British PM in Indonesia to finalize $2.5bln Airbus deal

PanARMENIAN.Net - British Prime Minister David Cameron arrived Wednesday, April 11 in Indonesia, where he will finalize a $2.5 billion deal between Garuda and Airbus as the European plane maker looks to tap the growing economy, AFP reports.

The trip is the latest leg of Cameron's trade mission around Asia, along with a posse of businessmen, as he looks to offset sluggish growth at home and in the troubled European economy.

"The $2.5 billion deal for 11 A330-300 planes will be signed later today at the presidential palace," Garuda president Emirsyah Satar told AFP.

Indonesia's presidential spokesman Teuku Faizasyah said the deal with the airline, which is majority owned by the state, would be the "highlight" of Cameron's visit.

The agreement is the second inside a year between the two after Garuda ordered 25 medium-range A320 Airbus planes for a catalogue price of $2.18 billion.

The latest deal will be a boost to Garuda as it embarks on an expansion drive less than two years after the EU lifted a ban on the airline operating in European airspace over safety fears.

It will also be more than welcome for Airbus, which has only secured firm orders for 90 planes in the first quarter of 2012, compared with more than 400 for U.S. rival Boeing.

Cameron will also likely push military sales, after Britain banned defense exports to Indonesia in 1999 following accusations that British-made Hawk fighters were used in counter-insurgency attacks in East Timor, then an Indonesian province.

He visits Indonesia as Southeast Asia's biggest and fastest growing economy continues to make huge strides since the 1997 Asian financial crisis, emerging as the region's most lucrative market for international plane makers.