Indonesia is ready to strengthen maritime and fisheries cooperation with Malaysia which has been well established. This was stated by the Head of Maritime Research and Human Resources and Maritime Affairs and Fisheries (BRSDM) SjariefWidjaja, when representing the Minister of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries received a working visit of the Malaysian Minister of Agriculture and Farmers' Industry, DatoSalahuddin Bin Ayub, at the Center for Marine Aquaculture Research and Fisheries Extension. (BBRBLPP) on Wednesday (4/9).

"Diplomatic and economic relations between Indonesia and Malaysia have been going well. We certainly hope that the good bilateral relations will continue, "saidSjarief in his speech.

Sjarief gave an example, the cooperation that has been established both as in the case of eradicating illegal, unreported, unregulated (IUU) fishing. He conveyed Indonesia's efforts in eradicating IUU Fishing which had produced positive results.

This is evidenced by the increase in fish stocks from 7.3 million tons in 2013 to 12.54 million tons in 2017; an increase in fish consumption per capita from 33.89 kg / capita in 2012 to 46.49 kg / capita in 2017; and the increase in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) which has always been above the national GDP since 2014. Sjarief also hopes that bilateral cooperation between Indonesia and Malaysia in the field of maritime affairs and fisheries related to eradicating IUU Fishing can be further strengthened.

In addition, Sjarief revealed the importance of increasing the capacity of human resources through human resource development cooperation between Indonesia and Malaysia.

"Cooperation to increase the capacity and competence of human resources will become increasingly important in facing challenges and seizing investment opportunities in the marine and fisheries sector," said Sjarief.

Sjarief also appreciated Malaysia's investment in Indonesia. "We hope that companies that have invested can further enhance the participation of local companies. We also invite all of you to take advantage of this valuable opportunity to visit Indonesia this time to continue to explore marine and fisheries investment opportunities, "he explained.

This meeting was a reciprocal visit after previously the Minister of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Susi Pudjiastuti on July 10, 2019 then visited the Malaysian Parliament, after holding bilateral meetings with the Malaysian Minister of Home Affairs and the Malaysian Minister of Agriculture and AsasTani. The Kunker resulted in an agreement on the need for bilateral cooperation in the field of marine and fisheries in the form of a Joint Communique and MOU.

Malaysian Agriculture and Industry Minister AsasTani, DatoSalahuddin bin Ayub, said that his party was open to signing bilateral cooperation documents. Even so, he said that the process of signing the document would be quite time consuming because currently the Malaysian government is a new government and must follow the internal bureaucratic process. To overcome this, he will form a new team for joint discussions with Indonesia on issues that need to be poured into the Joint Communique and the MOU.

"I am confident and confident that with the presence of Mrs. Susi, my friend who visited Kuala Lumpur last July, we can ensure that this cooperation can be carried out very well in the future," said DatoSalahuddin bin Ayub.

At the end of his visit, the Head of BRSDM accompanied the Malaysian Minister of Agriculture and Industry AsasTani to review the Gondol BBRBLPP research facilities in the form of anbaloon hatchery, sea cucumbers, grouper and yellowfin tuna. On that occasion, DatoSalahuddin bin Ayub stated that with expertise in the field of hatchery, especially grouper where the market is very attractive to China, Japan, Hong Kong and Taiwan; cooperation is very possible to exchange knowledge in the fishing industry, especially aquaculture.

This is the first visit of the Malaysian Minister of Agriculture and AsasTani to BBRBLPP which is a BRSDM work unit. BBRBLPP is the only research institution that has the main task of research and extension that conducts strategic research and development of marine aquaculture technology, especially for marine fish, invertebrates and high-value mollusks in Indonesia.

In 2019, BBRBLPP has a research focus on 5 species of marine fisheries, namely grouper tiger (Leopard Grouper), snapper (Barramundi), Abalone, sea cucumber (Gamat) and tuna (yellow-fin tuna). For milkfish, BBRBLPP no longer conducts parent research, but seed technology has been disseminated to users.

As a result, BBRBLPP has succeeded in producing fish farming technologies such as hatchery, nursery and enlargement techniques, nutrition for aquaculture fish, pathology and prevention for marine aquaculture species, even the best genetic character to support the fish farming industry.

This article's citing an article on https://news.kkp.go.id with the title of Indonesia SiapPerkuatKerjaSamaPerikanandengan Malaysia