"I am confident that AALCO can maintain its constructive role to represent the interests of Asian-African countries to overcome global challenges," director general of general legal administration at the Ministry of Law and Human Rights, Cahyo R. Muzhar, said on the sidelines of the meeting on Tuesday.
The head of the 61st AALCO Indonesian delegation also underlined the importance of including illegal fishing as a transnational organized crime, citing the global losses caused by the practice as a reason.
Based on data from the United Nations Agency for Food and Agriculture (FAO), losses due to illegal fishing are estimated to reach US$23 billion per year, he highlighted.
Even so, not all countries in AALCO have the same characteristics as Indonesia, such as maritime areas with exclusive economic zones (EEZ), Muzhar pointed out.
Moreover, some of the illegal fishing perpetrators also come from AALCO member countries or use ships and flags from member countries of the organization, which was formed in 1956, he stated.
Indonesia is still looking for common views and perceptions among the AALCO member countries and is trying to raise this issue at other world forums, including the United Nations (UN), he added.
He also revealed that Indonesia is proposing a new agenda regarding the formation of a forum to bring together experts in efforts to return assets resulting from corruption that were taken abroad.
He deemed the process of returning assets from international crimes between countries complex. Therefore, an expert forum could help strengthen cooperation among Asian-African countries through discussion and exchange of experiences, he emphasized.
"As one of the founding countries of AALCO, Indonesia continues to be fully committed to AALCO's performance and values, and looks forward to better cooperation in the future," he said.
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Translator: Dewa Ketut S W, Resinta Sulistiyandari
Editor: Tia Mutiasari
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