KOTA KINABALU: Malaysia has relayed its hopes for Vietnam to resume the Joint Working Committee (JWC) to focus on critical issues surrounding illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing.
Deputy Agriculture and Food Security Minister Chan Foong Hin said that Malaysia was keen to resume the JWC to address IUU issues as well as look at many potential issues and collaborations between the two countries.
He said that the issue was raised during his bilateral meeting with Vietnam's Hoang Trung held on July 19 in conjunction with the official visit of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
In a statement issued here Saturday (July 22), Chan explained that the formation of the JWC was agreed through an MOU in April 2014 with Malaysia hosting the first JWC in 2015.
"Malaysia eagerly awaits an invitation from Vietnam to convene the 2nd JWG Meeting Malaysia-Vietnam on Agriculture Cooperation later this year, coinciding with the 50th anniversary of our diplomatic relationship," he said.
During the meeting, he said both sides agreed to the importance of convening the second meeting of the JWG of Malaysia and Vietnam on Agriculture Cooperation.
"By resuming the JWG, many issues and potential collaborations can be further explored and discussed, focusing on critical issues surrounding IUU fishing," he said.
He said both countries acknowledge the significance in achieving sustainable fisheries and effective fisheries management within respective national jurisdictions and on the high seas.
"We firmly believe that fishery management plays a pivotal role in preventing IUU fishing activities, " he said in reiterating Malaysia's commitment to further strengthening cooperation with Vietnam to combat IUU fishing, especially when it involves destructive fishing practices.
To ensure responsible fishing practises among Malaysian fishermen, he said they actively encouraged the use of proper navigational and communication devices, such as GPS, Mobile Tracking units, and the Automatic Identification System (AIS).
"These devices not only assist our fishermen in their activities but also prevent inadvertent encroachment into the territorial waters of other nations," he said.
"I also took the opportunity to urge foreign vessels operating in our region to adopt similar measures to avoid unintentional infringements in Malaysian waters," he added.
He said that bilateral cooperation in addressing IUU fishing was aligned with Vietnam's objective to remove the European Commission (EC) yellow card on their fisheries products.
This JWC platform will not only enable us to engage in fruitful discussions to strengthen our bilateral cooperation but also reinforce the diplomatic ties, he added.
Malaysia has also proposed new areas of cooperation, particularly in the technical collaboration on coffee cultivation, he said.
"As Vietnam stands as the world's second-largest producer of coffee after Brazil, with Robusta coffee accounting for 97% of its total output, we see tremendous opportunities for bilateral collaboration in this domain," he added.
