It was my pleasure and honour to have participated in a crucial bilateral meeting with His Excellency Hoang Trung, Vice Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Vietnam, on July 19, 2023. This meeting took place alongside the two-day official visit of Prime Minister YAB Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim to Vietnam.
During our meeting, we discussed and agreed that it is important to convene the second meeting of the Joint Working Group (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 Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated (IUU) fishing.
In this context, the signing of the MoU on Agriculture Cooperation was done in April 2014, followed by the first meeting hosted by Malaysia in 2015. It fills me with anticipation that 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.
The issue of IUU fishing has been a recurring topic in our bilateral discussions, and we acknowledge its significance in achieving sustainable fisheries and effective fisheries management within our respective national jurisdictions and on the high seas. We firmly believe that fishery management plays a pivotal role in preventing IUU fishing activities. Therefore, I reiterate Malaysia’s commitment to further strengthening our cooperation with Vietnam to combat IUU fishing, especially when it involves destructive fishing practises.
To ensure responsible fishing practises among Malaysian fishermen, we actively encourage 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. I also take this opportunity to urge foreign vessels operating in our region to adopt similar measures to avoid unintentional infringements in Malaysian waters.
Our bilateral cooperation in addressing IUU fishing aligns with Vietnam’s objective to remove the European Commission (EC) yellow card on their fisheries products.
Moreover, Malaysia has proposed new areas of cooperation, particularly in the technical collaboration on coffee cultivation. 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.
In conclusion, I am eagerly anticipating the official invitation from Vietnam to host the 2nd JWG Meeting. This platform will not only enable us to engage in fruitful discussions to strengthen our bilateral cooperation but also reinforce the diplomatic ties following Prime Minister Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s official visit to Vietnam.