Indonesia Wants ASEAN to Cooperate in Maritime Sector

Jakarta (Antara) - Foreign Minister Retno L.P. Marsudi calls on ASEAN to cooperate in the maritime sector to bring to reality the vision of President Joko Widodo. Maritime cooperation could be expanded to other sectors such as development maritime connectivity in this region and elimination of illegal fishing, Retno said at a meeting of ASEAN foreign ministers in Kota Kinabalu on Wednesday. Indonesia also proposed cooperation in other wider areas including Practical Cooperation in Humanitarian Aid and Disaster Control, Settlement in Maritime Border Dispute and Territorial Dispute. President Joko Widodo has also spoke about the importance of maritime cooperation during the ASEAN summit and in other international forums. Earlier, Retno said the country's foreign policy in the future would give more stress to maritime development. She said border diplomacy of Indonesia has made progress toward maritime border agreements such as with Singapore and the Philippine sin 2014. She said the foreign ministry would push for the creation of the government's vision of making the country a maritime axis through bilateral, regional and international forums. (*)