Japan and Indonesia agreed Monday to launch a high-level bilateral "maritime forum" to expand their cooperation in ensuring security at sea and to increase Japan's assistance in building Indonesia's port infrastructure and coast guard capabilities, Japan's Kyodo news agency reported on onday.
In a summit in Tokyo, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Indonesian President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo welcomed the signing of a defense cooperation pact that involves Japanese capacity-building assistance for Indonesian forces, as well as bilateral cooperation in peacekeeping missions and defense equipment development.
Abe and Jokowi, who is on his first visit to Japan since becoming president last October, also agreed to set up a bilateral initiative to promote trade and investment, with Tokyo offering 140 billion yen (about USD1.17 billion) in low-interest loans for construction of a mass rapid transit system in Jakarta.