Jakarta. President Prabowo Subianto told Vietnam's ruling Communist Party leader To Lam on Monday that Indonesia would ratify the much-awaited deal on exclusive economic zone, or EEZ, with Vietnam next month, thus paving the way for the two countries to settle a decade-long issue on the maritime boundaries.

The ex-defense minister also gave the visiting party chief his word that he would sign the implementing agreement when he makes a state visit to Hanoi in the near future.

In late 2022, ASEAN and Vietnam finally concluded their talks on demarcating their EEZ boundaries based on the international norms as stated in the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). It took 12 years for the fellow ASEAN members to wrap up the negotiations. They have long been struggling with overlapping EEZ claims in the waters surrounding the Natuna Islands in one of the world's most strategic waterways, the South China Sea. The EEZ status gives a country exclusive rights to the area's marine resources.  Both economies had already agreed on the continental shelf boundary in 2003, but the area remains contested and has seen countless cases of illegal fishing activities.

Not long after the bilateral talks with Lam, Prabowo revealed to press members that he had informed the Vietnamese politician of his plans to fly to Hanoi soon. It would be during this visit that Prabowo would ink the implementing agreement to the EEZ. Indonesian lawmakers are also expected to make the EEZ legally binding next month after they return from their Eid holidays.

"I will make a visit to Vietnam in the near future. I hope that we can sign the implementing agreement on our [EEZ] economic zones. ... We weren't been able to resolve this treaty for many years," Prabowo told the press at Jakarta's presidential palace on Monday evening.

"Praise be to God. [The negotiations] are done. We hope our parliament can ratify it this April after Eid. Hopefully, the [Vietnamese] legislative body can also ratify it soon," Prabowo said.

Prabowo did not say when exactly he would be making his state visit to Hanoi. But another trip overseas could further cement Prabowo's reputation as Indonesia's foreign policy president—a nickname that international relations experts had given him due to his frequent travels.

Aside from the EEZ, Prabowo said that both nations would remain committed to catapulting two-way trade to $18 billion by 2028. Government data showed that bilateral trade had been on the rise, with the figures jumping from $12.8 billion in 2023 to $15.9 billion the following year. This January alone, Indonesia recorded almost $1.3 billion in trade with Vietnam, up from $1.1 billion in the first month of 2024.

This was not the first time that Prabowo had brought up wanting to ratify the EEZ deal as soon as possible. A few months ago, Prabowo made a similar promise to Vietnamese President Luong Cong that Jakarta would speed up the ratification process. The two leaders had met on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit in Peru.

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