Five countries strengthen maritime law enforcement dialogue

Manado (ANTARA) - Five countries in the Southeast Asian region, namely Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam, and Thailand, held a maritime law enforcement dialogue at the Central Zone Office of the Indonesian Maritime Security Agency (Bakamla) in Manado City, North Sulawesi.

The dialogue, titled Maritime Law Enforcement Dialogue Delegates (MLED), serves as a forum to strengthen regional cooperation in maintaining waterway security and addressing various transnational crimes in the maritime sector.

The Maritime Law Enforcement Dialogue Delegates (MLED) provides an opportunity to interact and strengthen the region in safeguarding waterways or other matters related to specific criminal acts,” said the Head of the Central Zone of Bakamla RI, First Admiral Bakamla Teguh Prasetya, in Manado on Thursday.

He explained that MLED also serves as a means to strengthen regional control in aspects of environmental security, humanitarian issues, and other strategic matters, while increasing interactions between countries in Southeast Asia.

According to Teguh, the five participating countries share the same spirit and commitment to maintaining regional stability with support from coordination by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

“This dialogue opens the minds of each country and shares in handling criminal acts, handling humanitarian aspects and so on, and enriches our knowledge, including in the Central Zone of Bakamla of the Republic of Indonesia,” he stated.

He emphasised that maritime and waterway security is a collective responsibility of all countries in the region, thus requiring solid cooperation without prioritising sectoral egos.

“We see that in our region in Southeast Asia, particularly, it is very good and conducive because our cooperation in the region and with the ASEAN organisation is very strong,” he said.

Teguh hopes that the dialogue can further strengthen relations between countries in the region, including through the exchange of knowledge, experience, and follow-up meetings to strengthen joint maritime security.

“Thank you to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) for providing the opportunity for Bakamla Central Zone to be part of this activity as well as the Head of the Indonesian Maritime Security Agency (Bakamla) RI, Rear Admiral TNI Irvansyah,” he said.