Indonesia hosted a three-day training course for representatives of
Asian national authorities involved in fulfilling Article 10 of the
Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) in late March, the country’s Foreign
Ministry said on April 1.
As a joint effort
between the Indonesian Government and the Organisation for the
Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), the course included management
training and discussions on operation mechanisms of emergency responses
at national and regional levels, attracting representatives from
national agencies and industrial chemical enterprises across Asia.
Basic Chemical Industry Director Muhammad Khayam at the
Indonesian Ministry of Industry said the training aims to boost the
capacity and cooperation of regional countries in handling
chemical-weapon assaults and potential leaks of hazardous chemicals in
accordance with Article 10 of the CWC.
Attendees
appreciated the communication network formed as a result of the course,
which they said would facilitate information exchange among Asian
countries.
The CWC focuses on eliminating weapons of
mass-destruction through banning the development, production,
acquisition, stockpiling, retention, transfer or use of chemical weapons
by States parties.
Indonesia became a signatory to the CWC in 1993 and ratified it in 1998.-VNA