Capitalising on their common experience in the fishing and marine sector, the governments of Iceland and Indonesia have agreed to co-operate in a number of areas. According to Antara News, the governments will help each other increase the capacity of the fishing and marine sector, as well as improve research into fishing and improve their systems of integrated fishery management.
According to Agung Kurniadi, the Indonesian Embassy’s First Secretary, Indonesia’s Marine and Fisheries Minister Freddy Numberi and Iceland’s Fisheries and Agriculture Minister Einar Gudfinnsson signed a Letter of Intent on 11th April in Reykjavik.
As part of the agreement, fishery experts from Indonesia may be attending a training program offered by the United Nations University in Iceland’s capital sometime in the near future. In addition, Iceland will assist Indonesian fishery vessels install electronic log books in order to improve quality control.
According to the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), an estimated USD 2 billion in fish were caught illegally in Indonesian waters by unregulated fishing boats. In contrast, legal fishing catches accounted for two per cent of Indonesia’s gross domestic product in 2007, an amount worth around USD 2.3 billion.
Iceland similarly relies on fishing as one of the backbones of its national economy.