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n a bid to improve the miniscule aerospace industry in the country, newly formed Indonesia Aircraft and Component Manufacturer Association (Inacom) has committed to cooperating with Germany’s firms under the BavAIRia Aerospace Cluster in knowledge and technology exchange.

The cluster covers about 500 companies employing 65,000 people doing research, development and production of plane components, generating approximately €7 billion (US$7.7 billion) in revenue a year in Bavaria. They are major suppliers for Airbus.

Provided its expertise, the German state can be of much help for Inacom with only 32 company members that consist of 31 component producers and the nation’s only plane maker, state-owned Dirgantara Indonesia, all of which employ less than 6,000 people.

Bavaria deputy minister for economic affairs and media, energy and technology, Franz Josef Pschierer, said as the biggest archipelagic country in the world with more than 250 million people, air transportation was the fastest mode to commute and hence the aviation industry should be developed.

However, the country still needs to improve infrastructure and train its vast manpower to accelerate the aerospace sector.

Indonesia can get huge profit from engagement in the aeronautics industry, Pschierer said, citing benefits such as solving infrastructure problems and developing the youth to innovate the technology.

“That can give your country a new profile as a technology oriented state,” he said after a memorandum of understanding (MoU) signing ceremony at the Industry Ministry in Jakarta on Tuesday.

Inacom chairman Andi Alisjahbana said the MoU would last for five years, during which, companies in Bavaria would help Inacom members develop more advanced components so the country could supply components domestically.

“For old models, Dirgantara Indonesia has imported many components, but for new models, we’ve been sourcing them from the local industry but still it’s not enough,” said Andi, who is also a director at Dirgantara Indonesia.

The firm has produced since 1976 six models of light to medium civilian and military types and 400 aircraft for domestic and ASEAN industry, under cooperation with Airbus Defence and Space.

Under the MoU, Bavarian companies, 90 percent of which are small and medium enterprises (SMEs), will help Inacom’s SMEs in producing more advanced components. Inacom was established last year to focus on strengthening the industry.

“First of all, most of our SMEs are newbies that never made components before and the remainder still need to attain higher qualifications to produce internationally recognized components, so we need to learn from them, we really need to catch up,” he said.

Andi said the funding would come from the SMEs themselves. Bavarian firms could provide local firms here with technology to produce products. Inacom also hopes firms in Bavaria can open an engineering center to supply designs and ideas from local engineers as well as support manpower to obtain certificates, specifically from the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA).

At least two state institutions currently specialize in developing the aircraft industry: Indonesian National Institute of Aeronautics and Space (LAPAN) and the Bandung Technology Institute (ITB).

Bavaria´s strengths are in the manufacturing of aero engines, aero-structures, weapons systems, “more electric aircraft” components, avionics components, aircraft interiors, cargo compartment solutions, simulation & training systems, avionics, satellites, launcher components and GMES.

Delegates from Bavarian firms are scheduled to visit the aerospace industry in Bandung, West Java, on Oct. 19, while Indonesian firms will attend the AIRTEC-International Aerospace Supply Fair in Munich, Germany, on Oct. 25 to 27.