ASEAN Transportation Minister Agree To Form SAR Forum

Nusa Dua (Antara Bali) - ASEAN transportation ministers have agreed to form a Search and Rescue (SAR) forum to intensify  transportation cooperation at regional level, Indonesian Transportation Minister E.E Mangindaan said.

"ASEAN SAR Forum will soon be formed to strengthen transportation cooperation.  Through the forum we will also think of how to provide safe and secure transportation," he said on the sidelines of the 18th ASEAN Transportation Ministers Meeting which ended here on Friday.

The forum will be held in March 2013, he said without elaborating on where it will take place. The minister said the forum is the implementation of ASEAN SAR cooperation to follow up on the existing cooperation.

"The forum is set up to follow up on the agreement which facilitates a number of existing policies so the ASEAN SAR policies can be adjusted to the current progress," he said.

Through the forum, ASEAN member states will form a working group to discuss the 1972 accord on the search of missing planes and the rescue of plane crash victims, he said.

In addition, the working group will also discuss the 1975 accord on the rescue of ship accident victims, he said.

He said the ASEAN SAR Forum is not merely aimed at forming a SAR unit but also at taking preemptive measure.

So far there has been no transportation safety and security system at ASEAN level. The existing SAR cooperation only involves two countries, he said. (*/T007)