Civil aviation: Doris Leuthard signs an agreement with Indonesia

Bern, 31.03.2016 - Today, Switzerland and Indonesia concluded a bilateral civil aviation agreement in Jakarta. Federal Councillor Doris Leuthard, who is currently on an official working visit in Indonesia, initialled the text of the agreement together with Indonesian Minister of Transport, Ignasius Jonan. The agreement intensifies cooperation between the two countries in the civil aviation sector. In Jakarta, the head of the Federal Department of the Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications (DETEC) was received by the President of Indonesia, Joko Widodo. The Vice President of the Federal Council reiterated her invitation to the President of Indonesia to pay an official state visit to Switzerland. Alongside issues relating to transport, the focus of the talks during her official working visit was on energy and climate policy.

The agreement signed in Jakarta concerns relations between Switzerland and Indonesia in the civil aviation sector. It sets out to secure better framework conditions for aviation companies providing services between the two countries. From now on, both countries may designate several companies as operators of scheduled services. These airlines also have the possibility of concluding commercial deals. Both countries also agreed on new provisions governing aviation safety and security. For Switzerland, this is an agreement that largely meets the modern-day requirements of civil aviation. The previous agreement was concluded in 1978 and needed to be adapted in view of the development of the market. The Federal Council gave the go-ahead for the signature of the new agreement on 23 March.

Yesterday, within the framework of a courtesy visit the Vice President of the Federal Council was received by the President of Indonesia, Joko Widodo, who underscored the readiness of his country to invest in infrastructure, especially in the transport sector.

In this context, during his meeting with Doris Leuthard, Rizal Ramli, Minister Responsible for Coordination, primarily in the areas of transport and energy, emphasised the challenges facing Indonesia in these sectors. Indonesia wants to reduce its CO2 emissions and develop its public transport services. For Federal Councillor Doris Leuthard, these challenges represent an opportunity for developing cooperation and economic relations between the two countries.

The head of DETEC also held talks with Sofyan Djalil, Minister of State for National Development Planning, as well as with Siti Nurbaya Bakar, Minister of the Environment and Forests. The numerous functions of forests in the context of the combat against climate change and the preservation of biodiversity were the main focus of the talks with these two ministers.

During her visit to Jakarta, Doris Leuthard also met with Le Luong Minh, Secretary-General of ASEAN, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. This economic organisation encompasses ten countries with a combined population of around 620 million. The meeting provided an opportunity to exchange views, notably concerning the implementation of the climate agreement that was adopted in Paris, and problems associated with infrastructure.

Federal Councillor Doris Leuthard’s programme included several visits, notably to the Indonesian Institute of Sciences and the Centre for Meteorology and Climate, which is a participating partner in an international project aimed at monitoring and analysing the consequences of climate change. This project is being coordinated by SwissMeteo. Federal Councillor Leuthard’s visit was rounded off with a presentation of Indonesian projects relating to renewable energy, plus visits to a factory of the ABB Group and to the Indonesian national airline, Garuda.  

The head of DETEC is being accompanied by a Swiss business delegation comprising representatives from the cleantech and transport sectors.


Address for enquiries

Communication DETEC, +41 58 462 55 11



Publisher

General Secretariat of the Federal Department of Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications; General Secretariat DETEC
https://www.uvek.admin.ch/uvek/en/home.html

https://www.admin.ch/content/gov/en/start/dokumentation/medienmitteilungen.msg-id-61125.html