REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, BANDUNG -- The national defense industry must grow as one of the nation's economic backbones, Silmy Karim, the new president director of state-owned weapons manufacturer PT Pindad, stated here on Tuesday.

"Indonesia has a huge potential to build a national, self-reliant defense industry. The rise and growth of the defense industry will reflect the success of technology development, human resource empowerment, and national defense," he affirmed.

The newly appointed president director Karim stated that as part of his plans to transform Pindad, he would first complete the work started by his predecessor Sudirman Said, who is currently the minister of energy and mineral resources.

"We are committed to support the government's policy to build a self-reliant defense industry," he noted.

Karim said Pindad has pioneered various partnership programs to help boost technology transfer and open new markets, while referring to the cooperation agreement signed with Rheinmetall Denel Munition (RDM) from Germany to build a large-caliber ammunition plant in Turen, Malang, East Java, among others.

He explained that the project is part of the strategic efforts to increase the production capacity and mastery of technology by Pindad employees to meet the domestic needs of the country's military (TNI).

"The cooperation also covers meeting the demand for large-caliber ammunition in the world market, which is part of the global supply chain that we must also command later," he added.

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