Jakarta. President Prabowo Subianto is seeking to strike a defense cooperation deal with Egypt as Indonesia -- an offer that he made during his recent talks with his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah el-Sisi in Cairo.

The ex-defense minister is paying his first official visit to Cairo. During the historic bilateral talks on Wednesday local time, Prabowo tried to convince Sisi to close a defense cooperation agreement which could pave the way for a partnership on arms technologies.

“It is best for us to quickly sign a bilateral defense cooperation agreement with Egypt. We believe we can learn from each other in regard to our defense industries and technologies. Perhaps we can even have an experts exchange,” Prabowo told the press shortly after the meeting.

Prabowo was the defense minister during Former President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s second term. As minister, Prabowo managed to sign a treaty-level defense cooperation agreement with neighbor Australia, which led to joint combat drills last month. Indonesian lawmakers ratified five defense cooperation agreements that Indonesia had signed with Cambodia, India, France, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Brazil in late September.

Indonesian state-run arms firm Pindad supplies weapons and vehicles for the country’s military. Jakarta has been wanting to upgrade its military’s old weaponry system. According to Egypt’s State Information Service in August, its government has been working on restructuring military factories and affiliated companies to boost production. Pindad claimed back in 2017 that Egypt was interested in purchasing its Antasena tank boat, Indonesian news agency Kompas reported at the time.

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