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By APD writer Melo M. Acuña
Yogyakarta, Sept.20(APD)－ The three-day meeting between the Philippines and Indonesia for the Joint Permanent Working Group on Maritime and Ocean Concerns will end tomorrow where they revived a key bilateral mechanism for the first time in three years.
Asst. Secretary for Maritime and Ocean Concerns Generoso DG Calonge of the Philipppines (left) and Indonesian Director for Legal Affairs and Territorial Treaties Bebeb AKN Djundjunan (right) exchange tokens of appreciation at the end of the 10th Joint Permanent Working Group on Maritime and Ocean Concerns at the Phoenix Hotel Yogyakarta earlier today. (DFA Photo)
In a statement by the Department of Foreign Affairs datelined today in Yogyakarta, it was learned the seven-man delegation from Manila was led by DFA Maritime and Ocean Affairs Assistant Secretary Generoso D. G. Calonge while the 30-member Indonesian delegation was chaired by Mr. Beb A.K.N. Djundjunan, Director for Legal Affairs and Territorial Treaties of the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The JPWG-MOC, which reports to the more senior Joint Commission on Bilateral Cooperation, was established to serve as the principal forum between the Philippines and Indonesia for exchange of views on maritime issues of mutual interest.
Both sides were reinvigorated by the entry into force of the 2014 Agreement on Exclusive Economic Zone Delimitation through an exchange of instruments of ratification by Foreign Secretary Teodoro L. Locsin, Jr. and Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi in Bangkok last August 1,2019.
During the meeting, both delegations discussed post-EEZ boundary delimitation issues, the joint co-production of navigational charts, the delimitation of the continental shelf, cooperation on search and rescue, and marine and fisheries cooperation, as well as to combat illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing.
Delegations from the Philippines and Indonesia in their traditional ASEAN handshake during the 10th Joint Permanent Working Group on Maritime and Ocean Concerns this morning (September 20) in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. (DFA Photo)
They agreed to address remaining issues of concern in order to reach agreements or MOUs on some key concerns.
The deliberations focused on possible future cooperation by both sides, including the engagement with the Academe, addressing issues of common concern including the challenges posed by climate change, opportunities for resource development and the preservation of marine biodiversity, among others.
The meeting reaffirmed the continuing friendly and constructive relations between the two countries which will commemorate its 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations in December 1949.
At the end of the Meeting, Asst. Secretary Calonge offered to host the Indonesian Delegation at the 11th JPWG-MOC sometime next year in the Philippines.
The previous Meeting, the 9th JPWG-MOC, was hosted by the Philippines in Makati City from June 8-10,2016.
(ASIA PACIFIC NEWS)
