Indonesia expedites maritime boundary settlement with Malaysia

Jakarta, June 11 (Antara) - Indonesian President Joko Widodo has appointed Ambassador Eddy Pratomo as the special envoy to accelerate the settlement of the maritime boundary between Indonesia and Malaysia. This step is a follow up to the several meetings held between Jokowi and Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak on February 5-7, 2015, and the meeting between Indonesian Foreign Affairs Minister Retno Marsudi and Malaysian Foreign Affairs Minister Anifah Aman in Kinabalu City, on January 25-28, 2015. The meetings were held to accelerate the settlement of the maritime boundary between Indonesia and Malaysia. According to the state leader's agreement, the main task of special envoy Eddy Pratomo is to give political consideration along with technical and law advice to settle the maritime boundary issue. Eddy will immediately meet Malaysian special envoy Tan Sri Mohd Radzi Abdul Rahman to discuss the framework, which will be agreed together. The senior ambassador Eddy has experience in handling bilateral and multilateral issues. He has also served as director general of law and international agreements of the Indonesian Foreign Affairs Ministry for the 2006-2009 period. Before this assignment, Eddy served as a special staff for the chairman of the Indonesian House of Representatives. Additionally, Tan Sri Mohd Radzi Abdul Rahman is a senior diplomat who has served as secretary general of the Malaysian Foreign Affairs Ministry. He has also served as an ambassador to Vietnam and Japan.