Vietnamese and Indonesian officials gathered at a meeting in the northern port city of Haiphong early this week to discuss measures to fight against traffickers of wild animals and timbers. At the two-day meeting, the first of its kind, both sides discussed ways to reach a common cooperation mechanism in line with both governments’ current regulations, the state-run Vietnam News Agency said Aug 5, citing Deputy Head of the General Department of Forestry under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development Ha Cong Tuan as saying.
“We hope that Indonesian authorities will join hands with Vietnam in supervising the illegally wildlife trading and encouraging the legal one between the two countries”, Tuan added.
Vietnam’s ports are among leading choices of traffickers of wild animals and timbers. The police forces of Haiphong city have seized nearly 15 tons ivories, tens tons of frozen pangolins and its scales, and a huge amount of turtle shells that were originated from Indonesia at the city’s ports since 2009.
