T

he Korea Trade Center (Kotra) in Jakarta held the first military trade mission to promote South Korean small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the military field.

Kim Eun-hee, deputy director of Kotra at the South Korean Embassy in Jakarta, told The Jakarta Post on Thursday that the event aimed to promote South Korean defense-related SMEs that had the necessary capabilities and export licenses.

'€œThese SMEs, however, may not have the resources to penetrate the Indonesian market,'€ she said.

When asked about the requirement for foreign suppliers to have a transfer-of-technology scheme as required by the 2012 Defense Industry Law, she said that the companies were aware of the rule.

'€œSouth Korean companies, not only in the defense sector, are interested in entering the Indonesian market. It is not only about selling their products,'€ she said.

'€œIt is a step-by-step process. First they want to know what the market is like. If they can find a local partner that is serious enough, they can start the transfer-of-technology.'€

The trade delegation consisted of six South Korean companies, who met with more than 20 Indonesian firms to strike possible deals.

Kim said reaching a business deal was not an easy task but that Kotra would facilitate the companies in building networks and reaching deals.

Language, for example, may be a problem for companies from both countries during correspondence and negotiations.

The South Korean companies were Truetrading Co. Ltd, Win4Net, Welcron, Inpeg Vision Co. Ltd., Samsung Techwin and KICT Group, which offer integrated automatic detection and sensing systems.

Welcron defense business director Kim Jung-nam told the Post that his company was still studying the Indonesian defense market and might set up a subsidiary here.

'€œIf there is enough demand, we may open a factory here,'€ he said.

Focusing on industrial microfiber, he added that Welcron had four divisions that might set up non-military businesses here to help spur the Indonesian economy.

Among Indonesian companies taking part in the event was state-owned land weapon systems and vehicle manufacturer PT Pindad.

'€œThe event was a good window to see various hi-tech products offered by South Korean companies,'€ weapon systems marketing manager Sena Maulana said, referring to Welcron'€™s floating bulletproof vest and KICT'€™s narcotics detection device and automatic iris scanner.

Sena added that in the current globalized era, defense companies could no longer afford to have competition but should resort to collaborative schemes instead.

'€œSamsung Techwin, for example, offers the possibility to jointly produce or assemble self-propelled howitzer systems using their expertise,'€ he said. '€œWe can choose to either use cannons and vehicles we already have or use those provided by Samsung Techwin.'€