SUBANG – The Philippines Ministry of Defense delegates led by Major General Joselito B. Ramos PAF (RET) – Assistant Secretary for Logistics, Acquisition and SRDP/HOD visited PT DAHANA in order to explore cooperation in the field of commercial and military explosives. DAHANA’s Director of Technology and Development, Suhendra Yusuf RPN and DAHANA’s Director of Operations Yusep Nugraha welcomed the Philippines Delegation on Wednesday, 3 May 2023 at the DAHANA Campus, Subang.

In his remarks, Mr Yusuf said that PT DAHANA, which is currently part of the Indonesian Defense Industry Holding (DEFEND ID), welcomed the plan for collaboration and cooperation with the Philippines. Mr Yusuf added that this visit was an opportunity for Indonesia and the Philippines to enhance cooperation in both the defense and non-defense sectors.

“We welcome you to PT DAHANA; a member company of the Indonesian Defense Industry Holding (DEFEND ID) engaged in high-energy materials. We are very happy with the visit of the Philippines Ministry of Defense today to DAHANA. Of course, this is an opportunity to continue to improve good cooperation between Indonesia and the Philippines; especially business cooperation in both the defense and non-defense sectors,” said Mr Yusuf.

Mr Yusuf added that DAHANA provides integrated explosives services for the general mining sector, both metals, minerals and coal; and in the quarrying and construction sectors such as the cement, asphalt and andesite quarrying industries; in construction projects such as loading and hauling of dams, tunnels, irrigation, roads, toll roads; demolition of old buildings, port deepening; and in oil and gas sector such as oil well casing perforation operations, and seismic operations.

In addition, DAHANA is engaged in the defense (military) sector such as manufacturing fighter plane bombs, rockets and drones. Owing to its principle of dual-use technology on more than 500 hectares of land in Subang Regency, West Java, DAHANA has the most complete range of explosives facilities in the Southeast Asia region.

Meanwhile, Mr Ramos said the visit of the Philippines Delegates to Indonesia is intended to discuss cooperation in the field of defense. During the meeting, he said that the Philippines hoped to cooperate with Indonesia in achieving efficiency in terms of defense cooperation that would benefit both countries.

Mr Ramos also added that they were inspired by DAHANA’s training and capabilities in the field of explosives technology, both for commercial and defense needs. He mentioned that Indonesia is capable of fully achieving this goal in the field of technology by 2029, something that the Philippines highly recognizes and desires.

“The Philippines tried to achieve this in the early 70s following our early political and economic stability. However, the economic events that followed hindered this initiative. Therefore, the Ministry of National Defense wants to restore the Independent Defense Posture program. We are aware of the latest global events that are happening on the other side of the world. These events suggested that we needed to become independent. We also want to express our great gratitude to DAHANA for welcoming us here and I look forward to further discussions on how we can further strengthen and expand this long-term relationship,” said Mr Ramos.

Meanwhile, DAHANA’s Director of Operations, Yusep Nugraha warmly welcomed the cooperation and collaboration with the Philippines. He also facilitated the Philippines delegation to visit the Energetic Material Center (EMC) area, and held a follow-up discussion forum on the potential for cooperation between the Philippines and Indonesia in the field of explosives.

“We hope that this visit can bring benefit for both parties, and we also would like to express our deepest gratitude to the KKIP Team for making this meeting possible,” concluded Mr Nugraha.

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