RI-Vietnam Officially Establishes Fishery Sector Cooperation

JAKARTA - The Indonesian government and Vietnam have officially established cooperation in the fisheries sector.

This collaboration was marked by the exchange of documents carried out by the Minister of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries (KP) Sakti Wahyu Trenggono with the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Le Minh Hoan at the Vietnam Presidential Palace in Hanoi City, Friday, January 12.

The exchange of documents was witnessed by President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) and Vietnamese President Vo Van Thuong.

"God willing, with the synergy of two neighboring countries that have the spirit of advancing together, they can encourage the advancement of the fisheries sector in each country," said Minister Trenggono in a written statement, quoted on Saturday, January 13.

Minister Trenggono said that the scope of cooperation covers many lines from upstream to downstream sectors. Among them, the development of capture fisheries and sustainable cultivation, guarantee of quality and safety of fishery products, investment to processing, promotion and trade in fishery products.

Cooperation with Vietnam also includes resistance to illegal, unreported, unregulated fishing practices, exchange of fishery data information, technology transfer and expert exchange, to improving the quality of human resources.

"One of the points in this collaboration concerns the development of lobster cultivation in Indonesia," he said.

Trenggono is also optimistic that the cooperation will strengthen fisheries productivity in each country.

According to him, this collaboration also shows the commitment of Indonesia and Vietnam in fighting illegal fisheries practices that have a negative impact on the sustainability of the country's ecology and economy.

"I believe that Indonesia in the future will be an important part of the supply chain of world lobster products. This collaboration also has the potential to make two countries a champion in the fisheries sector in the region," he added.

For your information, Vietnam has been in the market of Indonesian fishery products. Based on KKP data, Indonesia's fishery exports to Vietnam throughout 2023 reached 126.5 million US dollars. The main commodities are octopus sotong squid, tuna tuna tuna tuna skipjack, seaweed, shrimp and other fishery products.