M'SIA, INDONESIA TO EXPAND COOPERATION IN FISHERIES INDUSTRIES

By Ahmad Fuad Yahya

JAKARTA, Jan 15 (Bernama) -- Malaysia and Indonesia are to widen cooperation
in the marine and fisheries industries, particularly in the high-impact seaweed
production and ornamental fish sectors, Malaysian Agriculture and Agro-based
Industry Minister Noh Omar said here Friday.

"We see great potential for cooperation in research and processing in these
two sectors," he said.

Both countries would also cooperate in the field of bio-security to ensure
that the fish landed could be exported to and accepted in the European markets,
he told reporters after discussions with Indonesian Maritime Affairs and
Fisheries Minister Fadel Muhammad.

Noh said both countries also agreed to ensure the welfare of their fishermen
caught for poaching in each other's territorial waters.

Meanwhile, Fadel said it was strategic for Malaysia and Indonesia to step up
cooperation in fisheries because both countries, as members of the D-8 group of
Islamic developing countries, had agreed on marine and fisheries industries as
the basis for enhancing food security.


"Stepped up cooperation in fisheries is also in line with the Asean-China
Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and the Asean-Japan Comprehensive Economic
Partnership (AJCEP) Agreement," he said.

He said the volume of Indonesian exports to Malaysia in the fisheries sector
in 2008 was 57,159 tonnes valued at US$62.7 million (RM209.7 million).

Noh is leading a delegation of senior government officers and heads of
government-linked companies (GLCs) on a week-long visit to Indonesia as a
follow-up to the visit of Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak to
Sulawesi at the end of last year to discuss potential cooperation and investment
in agriculture.

-- BERNAMA