Nusa Dua, Bali (ANTARA) – Leaders of the Archipelagic and Island States (AIS) Forum have agreed to make the cooperation forum an international organization.The agreement was reached at the 1st High-Level Meeting of the AIS Forum here on Wednesday that resulted in the Leaders’ Declaration on the Solidarity of the Archipelagic and Island States Forum. “The leaders agreed to increase cooperation in the context of AIS Forum to become more charter-based towards the formation of an international organization,” Indonesian Foreign Affairs Minister Retno Marsudi, who accompanied President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) during the meeting, stated. In this case, AIS country leaders have assigned their ministers and high-ranking officials to start discussing the road map and necessary conditions. The declaration agreed upon by the 32 AIS participating countries also includes four priorities for future cooperation, namely climate mitigation and change, blue economy and ecotourism, handling marine plastic pollution, and good maritime governance.

Source: Antara News Agency