The Deputy Chairperson of the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Minister of Defense Zukan Helez is visiting the Indo Defence Expo & Forum in Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia, this week. There, with military honors, he held a meeting with the Minister of Defense of the Republic of Indonesia, Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin, as well as a meeting with the Deputy Minister of Defense of Malaysia, Ady bin Zaharie.
In addition to learning about modern trends in the field of weapons development, Minister Helez used the military exhibition and the conference to support the promotion of various military industry companies from Bosnia and Herzegovina, and met with representatives of the Indonesian state-owned company PT Pindad, which supplies weapons and military equipment to the Indonesian National Armed Forces.
He then held an official meeting with the Deputy Minister of Defense of Malaysia, Ady bin Zaharie.
Minister Helez, together with the Ambassador of BiH to Indonesia Armin Lim and the Assistant Minister of Defense of BiH for International Cooperation Zoran Šajinović, concluded his diplomatic activity on Thursday with representatives of the Indonesian Foreign Trade Chamber.
At the meeting with the Indonesian Minister of Defense Sjamsoeddin, Minister Helez confirmed his interest in improving bilateral military cooperation with the Republic of Indonesia, taking into account the excellent political relations between our two countries, but also taking into account objective limitations such as geographical distance and limited resources, which arise from the small financial allocation for the defense of BiH.
“Taking into account the legal competences of BiH institutions in the field of defense and foreign policy, the optimal framework for regulating bilateral military cooperation would be the conclusion of an agreement between the Council of Ministers of BiH and the Government of the Republic of Indonesia, in accordance with the Law on the Procedure for Concluding and Implementing International Treaties,” said Helez on this occasion.
Speaking about the activities and goals of BiH in the field of defense and armed forces, Minister Helez emphasized that the integration of BiH into the European Union and NATO are two key strategic goals of the country’s foreign and security policy, and that the processes are taking place at different paces, while facing numerous political challenges. He emphasized the modernization of the BiH Armed Forces as a priority.
Minister Helez, in his capacity as Deputy Chairperson of the Council of Ministers of BiH, at a meeting with representatives of the Indonesian Chamber of Foreign Trade, discussed the expansion of economic and trade ties, which would benefit the economies of both countries – the Public Relations Office of the BiH Ministry of Defense announced.
