KONTAN.CO.ID - JAKARTA. ASEAN-Australia agreed to strengthen cooperation in the food sector to respond to the issue of the global food crisis.

This is marked by the ratification of the ASEAN-Australia Joint Leaders which took place in Jakarta, on Thursday (7/9).

Trade Minister Zulkifli Hasan said the agreement aims to mutually support, the needs, security, availability, and price stability of staple goods in the ASEAN region.

"So the ratification of the ASEAN Australia Joint Leaders earlier was indeed one of them about food security and nutrition in response to the crisis. The point is food security," he said after attending the 3rd Asean-Australia Summit in Jakarta, Thursday (7/9).

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Zulkifli said Indonesia has imported a lot from Australia for several commodities such as wheat, meat, and soybeans.

Thus, according to him, this cooperation is strategic to meet the food needs of each country.

"So mutually supporting needs, security, availability, and prices in staple goods between ASEAN and Australia," explained Zulkifli.

In addition, it was also agreed regarding the cooperation of connectivity between ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand in the clean energy sector, especially in the development of the electric vehicle (EV) ecosystem.

"In ASEAN there is nickel, Australia has lithium. So if combined, the cooperation is strong," he said.

Editor: Syamsul Azhar