JAKARTA: Malaysia and Indonesia have agreed on a permanent regional secretariat to look into issues of sustainable marine development, resources management, research and development projects and income improvement of coastal communities between the two countries.

The Coral Triangle Initiative (CTI) regional secretariat will be set up in Manado, Indonesia.

Malaysia's Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Datuk Seri Dr Maximus Ongkili and the republic's Marine Affairs and Fisheries Minister Sharif Cicip Sutarjo met here on Friday.

The Science, Technology and Innovation Ministry said the meeting also paved the way for Dr Ongkili to take over as CTI Council of Ministers (CTI-COM) chairman from Sharif.

Malaysia was chosen to head the CTI-COM during the third ministerial meeting in Jakarta last October.

During their discussions, Dr Ongkili and Sharif touched on the challenges facing CTI and the plan to set up the regional secretariat.

Dr Ongkili also held meetings with high-level officials of the interim CTI regional secretariat (CTI-RS), led by Dr Gellwyn Jusuf, the secretary-general of the Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries.

Regional secretariat executive chairman Dr Sudirman Saad said the meeting between the regional secretariat and the new chairman was an important milestone.

Dr Ongkili called on Indonesia's Research and Technology Minister Prof Gusti Muhammad Hatta, with whom he discussed existing cooperation in science and technology.

Both ministers agreed to closely collaborate and carry out joint researches in natural products, biotechnology, cyber security, marine and fisheries as well as food security.

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