JAKARTA: Indonesian and Turkish defense companies agreed on Wednesday to set up a jointly operated drone factory, as the two countries signed a series of deals during Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s visit to the Southeast Asian nation.
Erdogan arrived in Indonesia on Tuesday to co-chair with his Indonesian counterpart, Prabowo Subianto, the first meeting of the High-Level Strategic Cooperation Council — a bilateral mechanism for state-level negotiations.
After the council meeting, the two leaders witnessed the signing of a joint venture deal between Turkish drone maker Baykar and Indonesian defense firm Republikorp at the Bogor Palace, West Java.
“Indonesia and Turkiye will also strengthen our defense and security cooperation, including education and training for our armed forces, intelligence partnership and counter-terrorism efforts. We also agreed to increase our cooperation and joint production in the defense industry,” Prabowo said during a joint press conference.
“Our meeting was active and productive, we have the same commitment to strengthen our partnership.”
The agreement to set up a drone factory in Indonesia was signed by Baykar CEO Haluk Bayraktar and Republikorp Chairman Norman Joesoef. Details of the deal were not immediately available.
Baykar drones, particularly unmanned aerial combat vehicle Bayraktar TB2, gained global prominence after they were used by Ukraine’s military against Russian forces following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Indonesia and Turkiye — both members of the Group of 20 biggest economies — also agreed to speed up negotiations on a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement, or CEPA, to boost bilateral trade, worth about $2.4 billion in 2024.
They signed nine agreements, which besides defense, covered trade, higher education, health care and agriculture.
“We considered it important to enhance our cooperation across various fields,” Erdogan said.
“We will work toward increasing our annual bilateral trade to $10 billion with balanced values. We are committed to do all things necessary to realize this commitment.”
