KKP and NTB Government Strengthen Blue Economy Cooperation

The West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) Provincial Government, together with the Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries (KKP), is strengthening cooperation to accelerate the development of the marine and fisheries sector based on the blue economy. The memorandum of understanding was signed directly by Minister of Marine Affairs and Fisheries Sakti Wahyu Trenggono and NTB Governor Lalu Muhamad Iqbal at the KKP office in Jakarta. In a written statement in Mataram on Friday, Governor Iqbal stated that the NTB Provincial Government has chosen to build a more active relationship pattern with central government ministries and agencies. According to the Governor, it is no longer sufficient for regional governments to merely wait for programmes to come down from the centre; they must be able to build intensive communication, align visions, and present collaborations that yield real benefits for the community. “We want to build a more productive relationship with the central government. Regional government must actively seek opportunities, build strong communication, and align national programmes with regional development needs so that the benefits are truly felt by the people,” he said. He asserted that for the NTB Provincial Government, diplomacy is not merely about building relations, but an instrument to open up space for collaboration, accelerate policy synchronisation, and attract more national strategic programmes to be implemented in the region more quickly, accurately, and sustainably. Iqbal added that the cooperation between the NTB Provincial Government and the KKP is designed for a five-year period with nine strategic scopes. These programmes include synchronising marine spatial planning, strengthening the governance of sustainable capture fisheries and aquaculture, downstream processing and marketing of fishery products, supervising marine resources, and enhancing human resource capacity in the marine and fisheries sector. “All are directed at strengthening the economic competitiveness of NTB’s maritime sector while maintaining the sustainability of the marine ecosystem,” Iqbal stressed. He stated that this agreement will also strengthen the integration between central and regional government policies in marine spatial management. “With this synchronisation, marine sector development is expected to be more focused, provide certainty for investment, and create greater added value for coastal communities,” he said. He expects the benefits of this cooperation to be directly felt by fishers, fish farmers, fishery business actors, and coastal communities through increased productivity, strengthened downstream processing, expanded market access, and more competitive human resource development. “The blue economy approach that forms the basis of this cooperation is also expected to maintain a balance between economic growth and the preservation of marine resources,” Iqbal said. According to him, NTB’s success in becoming the only province to sign a strategic memorandum of understanding with the KKP demonstrates that well-built communication between regional and central governments can accelerate the presence of national policies in the regions. “For the NTB Provincial Government, every cooperation must be measured by the benefits felt by the community, not merely by the number of documents signed,” he said.