REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- Chief Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan is keen to increase the national defense budget, particularly with regard to the procurement of weaponry systems.

"Our defense budget has always been set at below one percent of the gross domestic product. Our defense budget was once over one percent, but it was later reduced. We will do our best to increase it again," Luhut noted during a public lecture at the University of Indonesia in Depok, West Java, on Wednesday morning.

Luhut pointed out that most of the defense spending was currently being used for employee expenditure, while the amount of funds spent to procure defense systems was still low.

Therefore, Luhut said he was seeking ways to intensify defense cooperation through transfer of technology from countries, which had become weapon suppliers, so that their design capabilities could be replicated by Indonesia.

"The defense budget will continue to be increased. We will raise it from 0.85 percent to one percent until we can increase it to over one percent later. We hope the defense budget would reach nearly Rp250 trillion in 2019," the minister stated.

However, Luhut affirmed that the government will work towards improving the welfare of the personnel employed in military and defense institutions.

He promised to increase the wages of the personnel of the Indonesian Defense Forces and Defense Ministry to makes their salaries at par with the national income level.

"If the budget for procuring weaponry systems is raised, the salaries of the employees should also be increased. The salary of my son, who is a major in the Special Strike Forces, for instance, is only Rp6 million per month. It is lower than a bank employee's salary, which could reach Rp10 million per month," he pointed out.

The minister believes that Indonesia, as a big country, should ensure that its defense personnel did not face an income gap.

Luhut vowed to do his best to bring about a transformation in the defense institutions.

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