Economist cites red tape in fishery

BOGOR, West Java (JP): A mountain of bureaucratic procedures is obstructing development of the fishery sector, an economist said yesterday.

Didik J. Rachbini of the Institute for Development of Economics and Finance (Indef) said red tape was so prevalent in the sector that a fishery company had to get 38 permits from different government offices before it could start operations.

"If businesses have to wait for one month for one permit, it would take at least 38 months to get the business running," he said at a discussion held by the Bogor Agricultural University.

Indonesia has been unable to fully tap its fishery potential due to the bureaucracy, he said.

He said Thailand, whose sea area was about an eighth of Indonesia's, exported around US$3 billion worth in fishery products each year. This could reach $5 billion in the next couple of years, he added.

"These figures are three to five times higher than the revenues Indonesia currently earns from its exports of marine resources," he said.

Didik said the poor investment climate in Indonesia's fishery sector would prevent investors from entering or expanding their operations in Indonesia.

He said this was unfortunate as the sector had great potential and could become one of the country's leading foreign currency earners.

"The export cycle of a commodity is very short, about a decade long, so there is a chance for fisheries," he said.

According to the Central Bureau of Statistics, exports of processed food in the 1996 calender year reached US$961.95 million, up from US$818.72 million in 1995 and $813.22 million in 1994.

In terms of value, the bulk of exports came mainly from processed fish, which reached $237.19 million in the 1996 calendar year, up 11.6 percent from the corresponding period in 1995. (24/pwn)