Maritime Security
Virtual Capacity Building Executive Programme 2022
October 3, 2022
- On 27th and 28th September 2022, the Regional Cooperation Agreement on Combating Piracy and Armed Robbery against Ships in Asia (ReCAAP) Information Sharing Centre (ISC) organized the virtual Capacity Building Executive Programme (CBEP) 2022, a capacity building event on combatting piracy and armed robbery against ships, in which senior officers of maritime law enforcement agencies of ReCAAP Contracting Parties and of Indonesia and Malaysia participated. It was the 5th CBEP to be held and set its topics as “Mechanism of Engagement with Local Stakeholders and International Agencies” and “Legal framework to address Piracy/ Sea Robbery”, recognizing the crucial importance of the collaboration and cooperation with all stakeholders within and among littoral states and of strong legal frameworks to effectively counter Piracy/ Sea Robbery.
- During the programme, following the updates on the situation of Piracy/ Sea Robbery in Asia by the ReCAAP ISC, Japan, Singapore, Philippines, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Thailand, China, South Korea, India and the US presented their concrete efforts, legal structure, international cooperation and so on to counter Piracy/ Sea Robbery.
- Representing Japan, Mr. Tsukada Atsushi, Director of Space and Maritime Security Policy Division, MOFA, explained Japan’s vision on “Free and Open Indo-Pacific (FOIP)” and elaborated on how Japan’s international cooperation for maritime security and safety in Asia comprises an important part of its efforts to achieve FOIP. In that regard, he introduced Japan’s experience of cooperation with littoral states including: the provision of patrol vessels and relevant equipment; collaboration with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC); and trainings organized by inviting officials of their maritime law enforcement (MLE) agencies to Japan or dispatching Japan Coast Guard (JCG)’s Mobile Cooperation Team (MCT) as well as those organized by the Ministry of Defense and the Self Defense Forces. Further, he explained Japan’s international cooperation in the field of Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA). Japan Coast Guard also conveyed a presentation on the agency’s cooperation with the littoral states’ MLE agencies and Japan’s measures and legal structures to counter Piracy/ Sea Robbery, so that more concrete examples of Japan’s experience were shared with the participants.
- Japan played a leading role in establishing ReCAAP to address Piracy/ Sea Robbery in Asia and, as a main donor, has been constantly contributing to ReCAAP ISC’s projects to enhance the capacity of the littoral states. Thanks to the efforts of ISC and the littoral states, the recent number of the incidents in Asia is low compared to the severest years. However, the increase of less serious incidents in the Singapore Strait, which is Japan’s important sea lane, has been of concern. With this backdrop, Japan expressed its gratitude to ISC’s contribution to the safety of Asian seas and its intension to continue to play a leading role in fighting against piracy and sea robbery in Asia through utilizing the ReCAAP framework and cooperating with all the related countries.