Govt expects growth in fishing industry
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The government is focusing its fishery policy on promoting downstream industries to add extra value to maritime resources, a government official says.
Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fishery Research and Development Board head Indroyono Soesilo said on Wednesday the government would attempt to improve the business climate to attract investors to open downstream maritime businesses that would increase the added value of the country's fishing output.
Minister of Maritime Affairs and Fishery Freddy Numbery would discuss government policies related to the development of Maritime and Fishery businesses in a one-day seminar in Surabaya on May 20, he added.
State Minister of Research and Technology Kusmayanto Kadiman would open the seminar which would be attended by about 50 fisheries experts.
"The government policies are expected to help accelerate the growth of the country's maritime and fishery industries in the coming years," Indroyono said.
Indroyono said the country's fishery sector grew by an annual rate of 23 percent during the past four years.
Last year, fishery production contributed 2.12 percent to the nation's gross domestic product (GDP) and fishery-related industries 7 percent.
He said that the implementation of Presidential Instruction No. 5/2005 on the empowerment of the domestic maritime industry would also help accelerate growth in the sector.
According to the instruction, only Indonesian-flagged vessels will be allowed to fish in Indonesian waters from 2007.
Foreign companies will be allowed to make investments in the ownership of vessels and the establishment of fish-processing factories.
Indroyono said the instruction would reinvigorate the domestic ship building industry, which was expected to construct new vessels with a total of two million dead weight tons per annum.
Ministry official Carunia Mulya Firdausy said with more vessels, Indonesia was expected to increase its present national catch from 4.1 million tons a day to 6.4 million tons. (001)