Prabowo Meets Malaysian And Philippine Defense Ministers To Discuss Cooperation

JAKARTA - Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto attended the 2022 Trilateral Cooperative Arrangement (TCA) Ministerial Meeting between Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines (Indomalphi), in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Defense Minister Prabowo also met Malaysia's Senior Minister of Defense Dato Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein and the Secretary of National Defense of the Republic of the Philippines Delfin N Lorenzana.

The implementation of the TCA Indomalphi Ministerial Meeting in 2022 reflects the longstanding close relationship and strong commitment of the three countries which was inaugurated in 2016.

During the meeting, the three ministers exchanged views on the security situation in the Sulu Sea and Celebes Sea, and understood the need to strengthen cooperation to address ongoing threats in maritime areas of concern.

The three countries share a common view of cooperating in several fields.

First, optimizing the communication process of The Maritime Command Center (MCC) in Tawau, Tawi-Tawi, and Tarakan, so that they can carry out information exchange, monitoring, and implementation of sea and air surveillance activities effectively, including accelerating the deployment of the Trilateral Maritime Patrol Liaison Officer (TMP LO) remains at the MCC of each country.

Second, continue to increase the presence of the three countries in regional waters which includes the implementation of trilateral maritime exercises to strengthen the joint show of force and to prevent security threats in maritime areas of mutual concern.

Third, future TCA surveillance operations will be driven by intelligence in ensuring productivity and accuracy to reduce the activities of transnational criminal networks in the region.

Fourth, increase strategic engagement and commitment among the three countries through continuous improvement of the TCA structure, communication, and coordination.

This meeting also appreciated the enthusiasm and dedication of the armed forces of the three countries in working together to maintain the security of the waters of the coastal region countries, despite the limitations during the pandemic.

In 2021 there were reported zero incidents of kidnaping-for-ransom. This indicates that TCA is on the right track.

Prior to the TCA Ministerial Meeting, Defense Minister Prabowo held a bilateral meeting with the Malaysian Defense Minister on the sidelines of the Defense Services Asia Exhibition and National Security Conference Asia 2022.

The meeting discussed the joint desire of the two Defense Ministers to strengthen the defense cooperation that has been established so far, by focusing on joint exercises between the Malaysia Armed Forces (MAF) and the National Armed Forces (TNI), border security cooperation (Border Security Cooperation), and defense industry collaboration.

After carrying out the bilateral meeting, the two Defense Ministers witnessed the signing of the MoU between PT Pindad (Persero) and the Malaysian Armed Forces Savings Institute (LTAT) which was signed by PT Pindad President Director Abraham Mose and LTAT Executive Chairman Dato' Ahmad Nazim Abd Rahman.