Admiral Zulkifili Abu Bakar, Director General of the Malaysia Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA), made the statement on March 17. 

He said that the lack of forces and facilities and the invasion of foreign fishing vessels have posed more challenges in the East Sea, adding that cooperation among countries is the key to these challenges.

2017 recorded the largest number of foreign fishing ships entering Malaysia’s waters, he said. 

However, since the beginning of 2018, the situation has shown improvement, partly due to the effective cooperation between the Vietnam Coast Guard (VCG) and the MMEA, he stated, adding that he has had discussions with representatives from the VCG on these issues and have taken timely actions. 

The MMEA has cooperated with the Japan Coast Guard and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) since 2004 to strengthen its ability, he noted, revealing that Malaysia will promote cooperation with other neighbouring countries in the field.-VNA