Philippines, Indonesia to set possible boundary in mineral-rich underwater mass

Five months after the two countries sealed a historic maritime deal where they agreed to draw a boundary between their overlapping exclusive economic zones, the Philippines and Indonesia agreed to discuss setting a possible boundary in their overlapping portions of the continental shelf, an undersea mass often exploited for mineral resources, in the Mindanao Sea and Celebes Sea. The memorandum of understanding was signed by foreign ministers in the presence of presidents Benigno Aquino III and Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono at the 7th Bali Democracy Forum. Experts hailed the previous agreement as a model in settling maritime disputes, as the Philippines is embroiled in a dispute with China over the South China Sea.

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