Vietnam, Japan co-chair workshop on maritime domain awareness

Vietnam and Japan co-chaired the second ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) workshop on international cooperation on maritime domain awareness in Tokyo on February 20.

The workshop brought together experts from ARF member countries and representatives of relevant Japanese ministries and agencies.

The delegates looked into such issues as maritime domain awareness capabilities and inter-sectoral mechanisms and international cooperation to cope with challenges, including piracy, maritime terrorism and illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing.

To address these challenges, it is important to timely grasp accurate information on various incidents in a wide area and share it with those concerned to enable a prompt response. As it is impossible for a single country to collect sufficient information in a comprehensive manner, it is required to build an international information-sharing network, according to the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The delegates agreed on the need to enhance collaboration in order to raise maritime domain awareness.