Research projects for S. China Sea endorsed

BUKITTINGGI, West Sumatra (JP): Participants of the South China Sea workshop have endorsed the project proposals of the Working Group on Marine Scientific Research.

Hasjim Djalal, a resource person at the workshop and Indonesia's Ambassador-at-large for Law of The Sea, told reporters here yesterday the decision was made during the first day of workshop sessions.

"We will now hear suggestions on who the appropriate sponsor agencies, or countries, should be," he told reporters during a break.

He declined to mention any names, but indicated that the United Nations Development Program was one of the potential donors, which could provide technical assistance in the implementation of the Working Group's project.

Ian Townsend-Gault, a resource person from Canada, who has been involved in the implementation of his country's technical assistance and financial aid, said the form of assistance could not be generalized, but varied between countries or agencies, depending on the respective situation of each donor.

"The involvement of non-SCS parties will not be inside the level of the workshop, but outside it," he pointed out, adding that any offers from agencies and countries should be "seriously considered".

Hasjim explained that the participation of non-SCS parties was already agreed on in the previous workshop in Surabaya last year, "but now the proposals in their present form can be floated to potential assisting parties".

The decision to involve "outside" countries, he said, was made unanimously because the participants had no objections towards technical and financial support from non-SCS parties as long as this was done outside the workshop level.

"What they object to is involvement in the decision-making process in the region -- which is quite a sensitive issue," he said. (pwn)