Coming to an Agreement with Vietnam

Relations between Indonesia and Vietnam, neighboring countries in the same region, are truly unique. Indonesia and Vietnam often clash at sea, but maintain peace on land.

GOOGLE MAPS

Map of countries in Southeast Asia. Indonesian President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo and Vietnamese President Nguyen Xuan Phuc announced an agreement to determine the boundaries of the exclusive economic zone (EEZ)..

.

Now, these two countries have come to an agreement at sea. On Thursday (22/12/2022), Indonesian President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo and Vietnamese President Nguyen Xuan Phuc announced an agreement to determine the boundaries of the exclusive economic zone (EEZ). “After intensive negotiations for 12 years, Indonesia and Vietnam can finally come to an agreement on the boundaries of the exclusive economic zone,” said President Jokowi.

During the negotiations, many things happened. Vietnamese fishermen were suspected of repeatedly stealing fish from Indonesian territory. Indonesian traditional fishermen cried for help. Finally, the former maritime affairs and fisheries minister Susi Pudjiastuti responded by sinking Vietnamese ships. For example, on Saturday (4/5/2019), Susi sank 13 Vietnamese ships in the waters of Datu Island, West Kalimantan.

Also read: Indonesia-Vietnam Agree on Borders

On the other hand, Indonesia is on “friendly terms” with Vietnam on land. It can be said, occasionally, that Indonesia depends on Vietnamese rice. As an example, 4,900 tonnes of rice from Vietnam arrived at Tanjung Priok, North Jakarta, on Friday (16/12/2022). The rice that arrived is part of the import of 200,000 tonnes of rice until the end of December 2022.

Though in the early 1990s, Indonesia was the one to “lend” rice to Vietnam. At the end of 1991, the Indonesian government even asked for 78,000 tonnes of rice to be returned from Vietnam to anticipate the famine in 1992. (Kompas, 21/11/1991).

KOMPAS/HERU SRI KUMORO

President Joko Widodo and Vietnamese President Nguyen Xuan Phuc (center) walk to the veranda after planting trees at the Presidential Palace, Bogor, West Java, Thursday (22/12/2022). Nguyen Xuan Phuc will be in Indonesia for three days, 21-23 December 2022.

With this agreement regarding the sea, we hope that there will be no more disputes over fishing. We hope that fishermen from both countries will be disciplined in their respective areas.

Legally and geopolitically, this agreement is important to Indonesia. The EEZ border agreement with Vietnam also strengthens Indonesia’s position in the South China Sea. We also gained valuable experience in negotiating border issues with other countries.

We must not grow tired of working to build borders because borders present the face of our country.

However, what is more important is that this agreement must have implications for the economic growth of border areas and the outer islands. If we uphold sovereign rights, will our citizens be more prosperous? How do we interpret this agreement?

Periodic and continuous evaluations need to be done after the agreement. Without growth, what is the point of an agreement? Intervention efforts can then help boost investments in the fisheries sector, such as establishing a fish canning industry.

There is still a lot of work to be done following the agreement. However, we must not grow tired of working to build borders because borders present the face of our country.

This article was translated by Kesya Adhalia.