Moeldoko: Indonesia And Australia Need Disaster Management Cooperation

Presidential Chief of Staff Moeldoko receives Australian Ambassador to Indonesia Penny Williams at the Bina Graha Building, Jakarta, Thursday (13/1/2022). ANTARA/HO-KSP

JAKARTA - Presidential Chief of Staff (KSP) Moeldoko said it was important to build cooperation between Indonesia and Australia in the field of disaster management, especially in the Pacific Region.

This was conveyed by Moeldoko when he met with the Australian Ambassador to Indonesia Penny Williams at the Bina Graha Building, Jakarta, reported by Antara, Thursday, January 13.

"When I served as the TNI Commander, I made a suggestion for the need for cooperation in the form of joint training in the context of disaster," said Moeldoko.

According to the TNI Commander for the 2013-2015 period, cooperation in disaster management needs to be developed in the Pacific region because of the strong and congested traffic flow.

"Many foreign ships pass through these waters and we are in sea crossings which at any time have the potential for disaster. Unfortunately, cooperation in this field has not yet been carried out," he continued.

During the meeting, Moeldoko also expressed his appreciation to the Australian government for its assistance in the fields of education, handling stunting in Indonesia and health assistance for handling COVID-19 in Indonesia.

Bilateral relations between Australia and Indonesia have existed since the beginning of Indonesia's independence and have been further strengthened by the 2018 Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. In the defense sector, the two countries have held a Foreign and Defense Ministers' Meeting (2+2 Dialogue) since 2011. In this meeting, the Minister of Foreign Affairs The Ministry of Home Affairs and the Ministers of Defense of the two countries discussed strategic issues, bilateral relations as well as regional and international developments.

"I really agree with Chief of Staff Moeldoko regarding the importance of disaster management in the Pacific region. Actually we already have a framework for cooperation through trilateral cooperation between Australia, Indonesia and Pacific countries. So we just need to find a way to make it happen," said Ambassador Penny Williams.

For information, in September last year, Australia and Indonesia showed a concrete commitment to collaborate in the Pacific region through the signing of an MoU on trilateral cooperation between Indonesia and Australia with Pacific countries by the Indonesian Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Australian Minister of Foreign Affairs.

The MoU on trilateral cooperation was signed to serve as a platform capable of making a greater contribution to economic and human development in the Indo-Pacific region.