Indonesia Proposes Cooperation on Disaster Management with Australia

TheIndonesia.co - Indonesia’s Presidential Chief of Staff Moeldoko has proposed bilateral cooperation with Australian on disaster management, particularly within the Pacific region.

During his meeting with Australian Ambassador to Indonesia Penny Williams in Jakarta on Thursday, January 13, he said the idea had actually been proposed a few years ago.

“When I was still the commander of Indonesian military [between 2013 and 2015], I suggested the idea of a cooperation in form of joint exercise in the context of disaster,” he said in a statement, as reported by Antara.

According to him, disaster management in the region is even more urgent considering the traffic in the waters.

“A high number of foreign vessels pass through the waters, and we’re within the sea area with disaster potentials. Unfortunately, cooperation on the [disaster management] sector hasn’t been realized,” Moeldoko explained.

Ambassador Williams agreed with and welcomed the idea, adding that a related framework for such cooperation is already in existence and that the involvement of other countries in the region is just as crucial.

“We actually already have cooperation framework for trilateral cooperation between Indonesia, Australia, and Pacific countries. Now, we only need to find a mean to realize it,” Williams said.

In September last year, the two countries signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on trilateral cooperation that also involves Pacific countries. The agreement was the fruit of Indonesia and Australia’s shared commitment to collaborate within the Pacific region, including on economy and human resource.

Besides discussing the idea of disaster management cooperation, Moeldoko also thanked the Australian government for their support in education, stunting handling, and COVID-19 pandemic handling.