JAKARTA, Oct. 27 (Xinhua) -- Indonesia and Singapore have agreed to establish a joint task force to combat companies responsible for forest fires causing cross-border haze, the two countries' foreign ministers said here on Tuesday.
After a bilateral meeting with Singaporean Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan, Indonesian Foreign Minister Arrmanatha Nasir said the task force would coordinate information sharing, financial intelligence, cross-border evidence gathering and asset recovery where possible.
The two countries hope the cooperation will deter companies responsible for the fires and prevent future outbreaks that cause transboundary haze.
Indonesia has struggled for months to contain the wildfires, which deforestation monitor Nusantara Atlas said burned more than 1.9 million hectares in the nine months to September. ■