Initial Disclosure Date: May 8, 2013

Between April 28th and May 1st, Minister for Internal Affairs and Communications Yoshitaka Shindo visited Indonesia. On April 29, he and Indonesian Communications and Information Minister Tifatul Sembiring signed a bilateral agreement that Japan helps Indonesia to launch a disasters warning system. Indonesia is known as natural disaster-prone including cyclones, earthquakes, and tsunamis.

The Indonesian government will use Japanese ICT to analyze information on natural disasters and disseminate emergency information via the Internet, mobile phones, and broadcast networks. As another disaster prone country, Japan has advanced disaster alert ICT to forward flash reports about earthquakes and tsunamis. Tokyo wants to export this kind of technologies to other Southeast Asian countries after this project in Indonesia.

Japanese manufacturers such as Hitachi Ltd., Fujitsu, and NTT Data Corp. will join the project to establish the system. The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications may provide financial aids for Indonesia through Official Development Assistance.

Minister Shindo also met with Le Luong Minh, Secretary-General of ASEAN. They agreed to promote cooperation over cybersecurity, including the upcoming Japan-ASEAN Cybersecurity Policy Conference at the ministerial level. The conference will be held in Tokyo this June.

Sources:

• Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, “Hodo shiryo: Shindo Somu Daijin no Indonesia heno homon kekka [Press release: Minister Shindo’s visit to Indonesia],” April 30, 2013,
  http://www.soumu.go.jp/menu_news/s-news/02tsushin09_03000017.html
• Jiji, “Nihon no bosai joho gijutsu donyu he kyoryoku = Indonesia to goi  Shindo Somu-sho [Minister Shindo agreed with Indonesia to introduce Japan’s disaster alert technologies to the country],” April 30, 2013,
  http://www.jiji.com/jc/zc?k=201304/2013043000990
• John Hofilena, “Japanese disaster alert technology to be implemented in Indonesia,” Japan Daily Press, April 30, 2013,
  http://japandailypress.com/japanese-disaster-alert-technology-to-be-implemented-in-indonesia-3028021
• Manabu Nagashima, “Japanese disaster alert technology to be exported to Indonesia,” Asahi Shimbun, April 30, 2013,
  http://ajw.asahi.com/article/asia/AJ201304300093

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