Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has praised Indonesia for its role in fighting illegal, unreported, unregulated (IUU) fishing, the Indonesian Embassy in Rome said.

FAO Director General Jose Graziano Da Silva saw Indonesia as FAOs important partner, particularly to implement the Sustainable Development Agency in 2030, the embassy stated in a press statement issued on Monday.

Da Silva made the remarks on the sidelines of a function to hand over a letter of appointment to Indonesian Ambassador Esti Andayani as a permanent representative to FAO at the FAO headquarters in Rome, Italy.

Andayani lauded the cooperation between Indonesia and FAO, which has so far run well.

"I hope that in the future, the relations between Indonesia and FAO can be enhanced, particularly when it comes to food resilience and nutrition," she stated.

As a party of the agreement on littoral states steps to prevent, detect, and combat illegal fishing in a more concrete way, Indonesia has actively contributed to the fight against IUU Fishing Practices.

The Indonesian government has also consistently called for the importance of combating various crimes related to smuggling and slavery at various international forums.

Since joining FAO, Indonesia has implemented 650 projects across the country. Currently, the value of cooperation agreement between the government and FAO has reached US$350 million for the five-year term until 2020.(*)

Editor: Heru Purwanto
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