From Kebumen, Prabowo Hints at Large Foreign Exchange Potential from Shrimp Farming

President Prabowo Subianto highlighted the foreign exchange potential of the country from shrimp farming after a mass harvest at the Area-based Shrimp Farming (BUBK) pond in Kebumen, Central Java, on Saturday, 23 May 2026. He also said he will build similar projects in other regions. ‘We will build productive projects that generate protein for our people and also for sale abroad so that we can earn foreign exchange,’ he said, viewed from the YouTube of the Presidential Secretariat, on Saturday. From his inspection, Prabowo was told that the harvest from the shrimp ponds is currently in the highest category or world-class level. ‘Very promising. I was told that one hectare can yield forty tonnes. Forty tonnes is extraordinary; the price is very good. The price is Rp 70,000 per kilogram. So per tonne Rp 70 million,’ he said. From this pond, he said, at least 650 local residents can be absorbed into the workforce. ‘So this is very good, very productive. The current number of workers is 650. Local people 650 are employed,’ he said. The Head of State revealed that the government is also building similar projects in various regions. Some of these include Waingapu, East Sumba, East Nusa Tenggara. ‘If here, 65 hectares. In Waingapu 2,000 hectares,’ he said. ‘And we will also build, being constructed in Gorontalo 200 hectares and we are building in West Java on the Pantura, 14,000 hectares. There, it is fish; here, shrimp,’ he explained. According to the Presidential Secretariat, Kebumen’s BUBK shrimp ponds were developed using a best-practice concept for modern shrimp farming. The integrated governance system implemented there includes water intake channels (intake), storage ponds, separation of inlet and outlet channels, production ponds, wastewater treatment facilities (IPAL), and other supporting facilities. The Kebumen BUBK is also said to have a significant economic impact. In addition, Kebumen’s BUBK is positioned as an example of transforming traditional farming into a modern technology-based system with better environmental governance, while serving as a model for the development of the national fisheries sector. This mass shrimp harvest also reinforces President Prabowo’s commitment to building the maritime and fisheries sector.