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n annual informal workshop that gathers disputing parties in the South China Sea (SCS) has successfully concluded this year, showcasing the importance of continued dialogue and constructive collaboration in managing potential conflict in the region.

However, more intense engagement is required if the relevant parties are serious about taking cooperation to the next level and eventually resolving the outstanding disputes in the region.

Head of the Foreign Ministry’s Policy Analysis and Development Agency (BPPK), Siswo Pramono, said the 26th Workshop on Managing Potential Conflicts in the SCS had proven to be a big success in that a number of new and ongoing cooperation initiatives had been confirmed.

Among confirmed projects is a study on climate change in the SCS and its impact on littoral states and the continuation of the Southeast Asia Network for Education and Training (SEANET) project, which Siswo said provided instruction to experts and funding for scientist visitation programs.

“A proposal by Indonesia was also agreed upon: we will develop an information hub as a means to monitor all projects [past and present]. For the time being, it will be combined with the existing IT system of the BPPK,” he said on Thursday.

The Statement of the Workshop adopted at the end of the last session conveyed confidence that the projects would enhance mutual understanding and cooperation in the area.

The workshop utilizes a novel approach of engagement, in which participants do not act in an official capacity, thus allowing greater freedom to speak and collaborate.

The participants mostly comprise representatives from littoral states of the SCS, including those with unresolved competing claims over maritime features in the area.

Attendees were from claimant parties Malaysia, Brunei, Vietnam, the Philippines, Chinese Taipei and China, which asserts its right over almost the entire body of water.

First-time workshop participant Rolando Jungco stressed the importance of building friendships and understanding through such forums.

“I believe that for every issue, each country has its own view or perspective. So we should be able to hear those perspectives,” the Philippine National Defense College director said after the event.

“By doing so we can understand where one country is coming from. [...] With that we have a common consensus, and with that we may perhaps come up with a solution.”

The workshop, initiated by senior maritime expert Hasjim Djalal more than 25 years ago, has proven to be useful in formal diplomatic channels in the past, with the 2011 adoption of the Declaration of Conduct (DOC) in the South China Sea owing much to the informal conversations struck in previous iterations.

This, however, does not necessarily mean that disputing parties can afford to sit on their laurels in trying to achieve the Code of Conduct (COC) for the SCS, Evan Laksmana of the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) argued.

Evan said that while informal workshops were perfect for building a sense of common understanding through common engagement, better strategies were needed to address the dynamic nature of the issues.

“We can’t move from the DOC to the COC using the same tools,” he told The Jakarta Post on Thursday. “We need different and better engagement strategies more suited to the changes we’ve seen in recent years.”

Khanisa, ASEAN team coordinator for the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), said that more room for discussion was needed to overcome conflicting interests and the pull-factor of foreign power projections, which are the bloc’s biggest challenges.

Indonesia has expressed optimism about concluding the COC by 2017, with several initiatives to expedite the process already in the pipeline.