JAKARTA, Indonesia — A partnership between the Hawai'i National Guard and the Indonesian military has generated plenty of interest here, with some saying the agreement could go far in filling a crucial need: teaching the military how to respond to natural disasters.

Some 20 Indonesian journalists have signed up to attend the official announcement of the pact tomorrow at the U.S. Embassy here, where Gov. Linda Lingle and Indonesian Minister of Defense Juwono Sudarsono will hold a joint news conference. Members of the Hawai'i Guard and Indonesian military also will attend.

The partnership is meant to bolster disaster preparedness in Indonesia and Hawai'i.

Lingle said Hawai'i experts and Guard members are eager to share what they've learned in the past about planning for disasters. Meanwhile, the Indonesian military will be able to provide invaluable information on how it responded to the December 2004 tsunami that killed 120,000 Indonesians in Aceh province and thousands more elsewhere.

In recent years, Indonesians have also sustained earthquakes and floods.

"I look at it as a friendship," Lingle said. "It's an important time in Indonesia. It's a good opportunity to share information, to learn from them, and they can learn from us."

Several Jakarta residents said the government still has a long way to go before it is ready for another large-scale natural disaster. Many pointed out that the country's tsunami warning system is still not ready, nearly three years after the Indian Ocean disaster.

Dickey Zsunadi, a 20-year-old who was playing guitar in Monas Park in downtown Jakarta yesterday, said his family lives in Pangandaran on Java island, which was hit by a tsunami in July 2006 without warning. Nearly 500 people died.

The event led to major criticism, with many wondering why a tsunami warning system was not yet in place, despite plenty of help from the international community.

Zsunadi said many of those who died were people who fled, then went back to check on those they had left behind. Others were fishermen or farmers who stayed in their fields.

"It happened so quick," said Zsunadi, who visited his home after the tsunami.

Dwi Sulistyo, a 28-year-old resident of Jakarta, said he is very afraid for people who live on the ocean. "We need the government to concentrate" on disaster preparedness, he said, adding that the military needs to be able to respond more quickly.

State Rep. Gene Ward, who speaks Bahasa Indonesia and is an expert on the country, said the 2004 tsunami did resolve one long-standing dispute in Indonesia: Aceh, which had long tried to secede from the nation, agreed to talks with the Indonesian government. The province remains part of Indonesia but now has autonomy.

"The tsunami brought the disparate parties together," he said, and helped unify the country and bring its population together.

Meanwhile, though the tsunami warning system is not yet online, it does appear to be nearly operational. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in 'Ewa Beach has been working with officials in Indonesia to create a warning and disaster center.

Lingle will tour the revamped facility tomorrow with Indonesian officials.

The partnership with Hawai'i will bring the promise of annual U.S. funds, which could go toward helping the center and other Indonesian disaster preparedness projects.

Officials have not yet released a dollar figure but said it would be in the millions.

The partnership is only the fourth of its kind in the Pacific.

Hawai'i and Guam also have a partnership with the Philippines, while Washington is partnered with Thailand, and the Alaska National Guard has an agreement with Mongolia.

After the partnership announcement tomorrow, Lingle will attend a roundtable discussion with members of the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

She also will meet with Theo Sambuaga, a member of the Indonesian parliament who is expected to talk about how the partnership will benefit the civilian population.

Lingle left Hawai'i Saturday.

She will fly out of Jakarta on Thursday, bound for Tokyo and then Okinawa. Those visits will focus on opportunities in Hawai'i for Japanese businesses.

This is the first time Lingle has gone to Indonesia as governor, though she went once as Maui mayor and once as head of the Republican Party in Hawai'i.

Previous trips, to China and Japan, were meant to bolster tourism. A trip to the Philippines last year celebrated the centennial of the first wave of Filipinos to Hawai'i.

Reach Mary Vorsino at mvorsino@honoluluadvertiser.com.