Philippines, Indonesia conclude negotiations on economic zone boundary

The Philippines and Indonesia have come up with a final agreement on the delimitation of their overlapping exclusive economic zones (EEZ), the Philippines' Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said Monday. The DFA said in a statement that the final text of the agreement and chart on the EEZ boundary have been completed after 20 years of negotiations. The Philippine and Indonesian panels wrapped up negotiations on the EEZ boundary in Jakarta on Sunday. The draft agreement and chart have been endorsed by Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario and Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa "at the soonest time possible." Manila and Jakarta started negotiations for the delimitation of their overlapping EEZs in the Mindanao Sea and Celebes sea in June 1994.