VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

During the ASEAN-Australia Special Summit 2018 that took place in Sydney, Australia, Indonesia and Australia signed a maritime cooperation agreement on Friday (16/3). The agreement contains in the Plan of Action on Maritime Cooperation which was signed after the 2 + 2 meeting between Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Defense Minister of both countries. Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi and Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop witnessed the signing of the cooperation undertaken by the Director General for Asia Pacific and Africa at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Desra Percaya and Deputy Secretary of the Indo-Pacific Group of Foreign Affairs Ministry, Richard Maude. Maritime security in the Asia Pacific region is very important, because the world economy is currently still dependent on maritime routes, both as trade routes and lines of communication. This was stated by Indonesian Minister Defense, Ryamizard Ryacudu and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Retno Marsudi during a bilateral dialogue 2 + 2 Minister Meeting with Minister of Defense of Australia, Marise Payne and Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop. According to Minister Ryamizard, International Trade which is increasingly growing still relies on the marine domain so that the issue of maritime security guarantee becomes a very crucial thing. He acknowledges that to maintain maritime security, Indonesia cooperates not only with Australia but also with various neighboring countries such as Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand with cooperation in coordinated patrol (Corpat). Concrete evidence of such cooperation is that the crime rate in these waters drops dramatically even to zero incidents. The recent piracy action in the Sulu Sea, which has also directly impeded the economy and caused unrest for the users of the track has gradually been overcome by Indonesia along with the Philippines and Malaysia. The three countries have taken concrete cooperation measures through the trilateral cooperation platform in the Sulu Sea. Minister Ryamizard said that the dynamics of maritime security cannot be separated from the development of radical / terrorist groups affiliated with ISIS, so that Indonesia holds trilateral cooperation not only solely facing piracy or crime in the ocean, but also related steps to deal with terrorist / radical group. Thus, the signing between Indonesia and Australia is believed to be more in line with the concepts of cooperation of countries in the region that is currently reviewed and perfected by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Minister Ryamizard considers cooperation with Australia as a step towards ensuring stability of security throughout the Indian Ocean and Pacific Ocean and ensuring that the maritime sector is surrounded with peace, stability and prosperity. Meanwhile, in a bilateral meeting with Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull on the sidelines of the 2018 ASEAN-Australia Special Summit at the International Convention Center, Sydney, on Saturday (17/3), Indonesian President Joko Widodo hopes that the signed maritime cooperation action plan can be implemented immediately. Both Foreign Ministers have also exchanged ideas on the concept of Indo-Pacific region architecture. He also hopes that the consultation on Indo-Pacific will continue for the sake of stability, peace and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region.