The decision was taken at an ASEAN-SEAFDEC Conference that took place in Bangkok, Thailand, June 13-17, 2011, the minister said Friday, in a press statement.
"This is an honor for Indonesia to be trusted by SEAFDEC member countries to become the center of activities of the organization`s sub-commission which was initiated by Japan," Fadel said.
As one of the internationally-recognized marine and fishery producing countries, the role of Indonesia in developing and promoting the fishery sector is highly valued by other nations, according to him.
The South East Asian Fisheries Development Center (SEAFDEC)`s Conference was officially opened by Thai Vice Prime Minister Trairong Suwankhiri.
In the conference themed "Fish For the People 2020", Indonesia was appointed as the vice chairman, while Thailand, the host country, was the chairman.
Agriculture and fisheries ministers of ASEAN and Japan in the conference also appointed Indonesia as the host of a ministerial-level meeting on Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated (IUU) Fishing at the end of 2011.
In the Bangkok conference, they discussed among other things about economic partnership among the ASEAN member states, including about cooperation in food security especially fish until 2020. All SEAFDEC members agreed to name Indonesia as a coordinator of th food security partnership.
On the sidelines of the conference, Minister Fadel held a meeting with Malaysian Agriculture Minister Dato Seri Noh Umar to talk about both nation`s fishermen being held in respective countries.
They agreed that the problems concerning the arrests of the fishermen should be solved amicably for the sake of the welfare and safety of the two countries` fishermen. (*)
Editor: Aditia Maruli Radja
Copyright © ANTARA 2011
