Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Djoko Suyanto here Tuesday officially kicked off a Maritime Security Desktop Exercise and Meeting.

Ten countries are participating in the exercise and meeting to discuss three main issues, namely piracy, human trafficking, and fish poaching, according to Head of the Marine Security Coordinating Body (Bakorkamla) Vice Admiral Didik Heru Purnomo.

The event was organized by Bakorkamla in cooperation with the Australian Border Protection Command (BPC).

The ten participating countries in the four-day exercise are Indonesia, Singapore, Australia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Timor Leste and Vietnam.

The exercise is aimed at increasing coordination and cooperation among the participating countries in the marine sector. Furthermore, it is also expected to develop a regional contact point among the participating nations," Didik said.

The four-day meeting/exercise is attended by 102 participants, including 38 from foreign countries.

Minister Djoko Suyanto said the annual event would discuss about maritime crimes and solutions to address the problems.

"The point is how we establish cooperation to jointly intensify maritime security measures, and how we draft regional cooperation. This meeting will become a good cooperation pattern," the minister said. (*)

Editor: Aditia Maruli Radja
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