Indonesia Re-elected as IMO’s Member Council
Vice Cabinet Secretary Ratih Nurdiati attends the 31st plenary meeting of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) in London, the United Kingdom, Friday (29/11). (Photo by: Diana I / Office of the Deputy Cabinet Secretary for Maritime Affairs)
Indonesia was reelected as a Category C member of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) Council for the 2020-2021 period at the 31st plenary meeting of the IMO in London, the United Kingdom, Friday (11/29) local time.
“Indonesia was reelected as a Category C member of the IMO Council for the 2020-2021 period by gaining 139 votes and ranked fifth out of 24 nominated IMO member states,” Director General of Civil Aviation for Ministry of Transportation R. Agus H. Purnomo said during the meeting.
According to Agus, there were 165 valid voters out of 168 countries in the re-election of IMO member council, while three other countries were considered ineligible to vote.
“Singapore was ranked number one for the re-election in Category C that gain 153 votes,” Agus said. It was followed by Malta (145 votes), Malaysia (142 votes), Cyprus (140), Indonesia (139 votes), Bahamas (137 votes), South Africa (136 votes), Mexico (135 votes), Chile (134 votes), Belgium (133 votes), Egypt (132 votes), Peru (132 votes), Morocco (131 votes), Denmark (130 votes), Turkey (129 votes), Thailand (127 votes), Jamaica (125 votes), the Philippines (119 votes), Kuwait (112 votes), and Kenya (111 votes).
“There were four countries that are not included in Category C IMO membership, namely: Nigeria (110 votes), Saudi Arabia (106 votes), Poland (101 votes), Liberia (100 votes) and Qatar resigned as a candidate for Category C membership of IMO Council,” he added.
Becoming a Category C member of IMO Council, Agus continued, is the Government’s efforts to restore Indonesia’s maritime glory as well as to make Indonesia as a global maritime fulcrum.
He further said that Category A members of IMO Council consists of 10 countries that represented the largest international trading fleet and the largest international sea freight provider, among others: Japan, the Republic of Korea, Italy, China, Greece, Panama, the United Kingdom, Norway, the United States of America, and the Russian Federation.
In addition, Category B is comprised of 10 countries that have the greatest interest in sea trade services or international seaborne trade, namely Australia, Germany, France, Brazil, Spain, India, Canada, the United Arab Emirates, Brazil, and Argentina, adding that Sweden was no longer elected due to the lack of voters.
In the meantime, the Director General also said that Indonesia nominated the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) to compete with Italy and the United Kingdom in order to become IMO’s External Auditor. The BPK was elected as IMO’s External Auditor for 2020-2023 period with 75 votes of 142 valid voters, defeated the United Kingdom that gained 64 votes.
“I hope that the BPK as an IMO’s External Auditor will increase the existence of Indonesia in the international community, especially in maritime sector,” Agus concluded. (DI / PR of Transportation Ministry / ES)
Translated by: Syarifah Aisyah
Reviewed by: Yuyu Mulyani
