RI may ramp up exploitation of ocean for profit
Urip Hudiono, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Although the government formed a special ministry in 1999 to manage Indonesia's marine resources, it has yet to implement a comprehensive policy to exploit those resources as a driving force for the country's economy, a researcher stated on Monday.
"We therefore propose that the government in power after these elections consider adopting a `National Ocean Economic Policy' (NOEP) as Indonesia's future economic model," said head of the Bogor Institute of Agriculture's Sea and Seashore Research Center (PKSPL-IPB), Tridoyo Kusumastanto.
He was speaking at a one-day seminar organized by his university. The seminar, entitled "Indonesia Ocean Outlook 2004: The Sea as the Nation's Future", was attended by officials from the Ministry of Fisheries and Maritime Affairs and the Ministry of Transportation, as well as representatives from regional administrations, the business sector and the fishery community.
Tridoyo explained that his center was currently formulating the new economic model, which he dubbed "oceanomics". It will promote "sustainable and eco-friendly" exploitation of Indonesia's potentially large, yet mostly untapped, sea resources -- from fisheries, undersea mining and sea transportation to tourism -- as its main economic driver, to the same level as its current "land-based economic paradigm" for mining, forestry and agriculture.
And because the new model was planned for the long haul, it would need to be complemented with a "National Ocean Development Policy" (Nodep) and a "National Ocean Governance" (NOG) to ensure its continuity, he said.
The Nodep, he explained, would act as a roadmap and a guideline for cooperation among 16 other ministries and government institutions related to the development and management of marine resources in line with the NOEP. The NOG, meanwhile, would ensure the commitment and good-governance of the government to implement the Nodep.
Commenting on the proposed paradigm, the head of the Ministry of Fisheries and Maritime Affairs' research agency, Indroyono Susilo, said that his ministry would totally support it, as the ministry itself had been formulating a similar plan, and that it was in line with the current development in the marine and fishery sector.
According to data from the ministry and the Central Agency of Statistics (BPS), fishery production alone had increased by an average of 5.21 percent per annum from 5.11 million tons worth Rp 29.47 trillion (US$3.47 billion) in 2000 to 5.95 million tons valued at Rp 44.793 trillion in 2003. In the same period, fishery exports had increased by an annual average of 7.09 percent from $1.67 billion to $2 billion.
"Contributing 2.5 percent to the nation's gross domestic product (GDP) last year, the fishery sector became the third largest non-oil, non-gas foreign exchange earner after the forestry and agricultural sectors," Indroyono said.
He said the new paradigm would hopefully increase the fishery sector's contribution to 10 percent by 2009, with exports reaching $15 billion.
Support also came from representatives of regional administrations, including the Bangka-Belitung province, whose fishery sector has a production potential of 1.81 million tons worth Rp 19.66 trillion per year.
"The main problem now is how we can obtain funding -- whether from the central government or foreign investors -- to fully develop this potential," said Bangka-Belitung vice governor Suryadi Saman. "We are also facing problems from rampant illegal fishing by foreigners in our waters, hampering the activities of local fishermen."