Manado, (ANTARA News) - North Sulawesi Deputy Governor Steven Kandouw, in the "State Border Management Coordination Meeting in 2019," expressed hope that the government will pay attention to cross-border issues with neighboring Philippines, SSTP`s Head of Public Relations Christian Iroth said on Wednesday.

At the meeting, the deputy governor raised the issue the closure of cross-border trade by Philippine immigration because the Indonesian side unilaterally adjusted cross-border in accordance with the Law on Immigration without talks with the Philippine Government.

Then, the "Undocumented Citizen" issue of the Sangihe-Filipino and Philippine-Sangihe descendants more or less matches the UNHCR data of around 8.5 thousand people in the Southern Philippines.

The next problem raised by the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle politician was a "roll on roll off" ship launched by President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) to serve trade between the two countries.

Current conditions only serve twice because the commodities transported from North Sulawesi are inadequate. The export of swallow`s nest commodities is also hindered because of the lack of support from the Ministry of Trade.

"The deputy governor asked the central government to pay special attention to the border issues that exist in North Sulawesi, so that the economic growth of the people in the border region can be more advanced," he noted.

Iroth remarked that the Minister of Home Affairs Tjahjo Kumolo had stated that the coordination meeting was held to improve the performance of border managers.

"This coordination meeting is very important in an effort to improve the performance of national border management, which is characterized by increased coordination, integration, synchronization and synergy (KISS), central government, regional governments, universities, and other stakeholders," the minister explained.

Reporting by Karel Alexander Polakitan
Editing by Eliswan Azly

Reporter: Antara
Editor: Suharto
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