German Chancellor
Angela Merkel lauded Indonesia’s ability to slash its debt as she and President
Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono signed in Jakarta on Tuesday the Jakarta Declaration
aiming to boost comprehensive ties between the two countries.
After the signing ceremony, Merkel, who is visiting
Southeast Asia for the first time, told a joint press conference that Indonesia
was a success story of debt reduction, as it had managed to reduce its debt to
24 percent of gross domestic product from 80 percent in just several years.
“I think that’s an example of what can be achieved and
what Europe has to achieve, especially given the fact that Indonesia was able
to achieve this over a short time, in fact in a few years,” she said.
The Jakarta Declaration will enable the two countries
to cooperate more closely in areas such as defense, trade, science and
technology and the environment, both leaders agreed.
Last year, bilateral trade between the two countries
rose by 7 percent to more than $7 billion. German officials estimated that
figure could reach $15 billion by 2015.
“The Jakarta Declaration is very comprehensive,
allowing both countries to do many things together in the future,” Yudhoyono
said.
Merkel, the first German chancellor to visit Indonesia
since 1995, said the agreement would boost bilateral cooperation and enable
greater strategic cooperation.
Yudhoyono mentioned Indonesia’s plan to buy a large
number of Leopard tanks from Germany.
“We’ll be very open and transparent about this,”
Yudhoyono said, adding that the country’s military equipment needed updating
and that Germany was one of the partners Indonesia could turn to for supplies.
Indonesian officials have said the country would buy
100 tanks worth $280 million from Germany.
Earlier on Tuesday, Merkel visited the Protestant
Immanuel Church as well as Istiqlal, the country’s biggest mosque.
“I believe that we can cooperate more closely in
science and research, and the tsunami warning center is but one example of
that,” she said.
Arientha Primanita
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