The Indonesia Peace and Security Centre was inaugurated on April 7 in West Java province, with the main purpose of training officers for United Nations peacekeeping tasks.

Speaking at the inaugural ceremony, Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said that Indonesia is working hard to become one of the 10 nations contributing most to the UN peacekeeping force in the next 1-2 years.

Built with financial support of the US and Australia, the complex, the biggest of its kind in Southeast Asia, covers an area of nearly 270 hectares in Sentul, 30 kilometres away from the capital Jakarta.

In addition to peacekeeping, the complex also provides training in counterterrorism and disaster relief activities.

It also consists of a facility for standby military personnel awaiting emergency deployment, and sports and language training centres.

Indonesia now has about 2,000 peacekeepers, ranking 17th in the list of the countries sending the largest contingents of troops for UN peacekeeping missions.-VNA