VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno L. P. Marsudi held a bilateral meeting with Vietnam Foreign Minister/Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh on margins of the ASEAN Ministerial Meeting and ASEAN Post-Ministerial Conference, Bangkok, Thailand, July 30.

The two foreign ministers deliberated on steps to resolve maritime boundary negotiations, particularly the Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ) between Indonesia and Vietnam.

During the meeting in Bangkok, a technical meeting to discuss efforts to accelerate the settlement of negotiations was also held in Jakarta.

The Indonesian Foreign Affairs Ministry, in its written statement issued here on Wednesday, stated that the two foreign ministers embraced an agreement on the methodology for the maritime boundary negotiations. The agreement is expected to facilitate the completion of negotiation.

Moreover, the two foreign ministers agreed on the need to immediately settle the preparation of a Provisional Arrangement (PA) to temporarily regulate overlapping claims of EEZ in order to prevent unnecessary incidents between fishing vessels of both countries from arising in future.

In addition to maritime boundary issues, Foreign Minister Marsudi and Foreign Minister Binh Minh discussed the current situation in the South China Sea.
 
The Indonesian government has consistently reiterated the need to maintain peace and stability in the South China Sea.

Hence, every country should contribute to building mutual trust that can be achieved if all parties comply with the international law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

Minister Marsudi attends a series of ASEAN Foreign Ministerial Meetings and the ASEAN Post Ministerial Conference held from July 30 until August 2, 2019, in Bangkok, Thailand (ANTARA)