Pirates threaten wealth: Officials

Pirates threaten wealth: Officials

SINGAPORE (AP): Pirates in Southeast Asian seas are a major threat to prosperity, officials attending a three-day anti-piracy conference said on Thursday.

"Participants shared the view that problems of piracy and armed robbery against ships are not only the major threats to the maritime community, but also to the prosperity of the region," the conference chairman, Masaru Kubota of the Japan Maritime Safety Agency, said at the end of the meeting.

The meeting, organized by the Japan Maritime Safety Agency, is in preparation for a larger anti-piracy conference in Tokyo at the end of next month.

Attending the conference were coast guard and maritime safety officials from Cambodia, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.