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Indonesian pearl house inaugurated in W. Nusa Tenggara
Prime commodity: Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Minister Sharif Cicip Sutardjo (left) and West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) Governor H
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Prime commodity: Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Minister Sharif Cicip Sutardjo (left) and West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) Governor H. Muhammad Amin visit a pearl booth after the launch of the Rumah Mutiara Indonesia (Indonesia Pearl House) in Central Lombok, NTB, on Wednesday.(JP/Panca Nugraha) (left) and West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) Governor H. Muhammad Amin visit a pearl booth after the launch of the Rumah Mutiara Indonesia (Indonesia Pearl House) in Central Lombok, NTB, on Wednesday.(JP/Panca Nugraha)
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span class="inline inline-center">Prime commodity: Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Minister Sharif Cicip Sutardjo (left) and West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) Governor H. Muhammad Amin visit a pearl booth after the launch of the Rumah Mutiara Indonesia (Indonesia Pearl House) in Central Lombok, NTB, on Wednesday.(JP/Panca Nugraha)
Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Minister, Sharif Cicip Sutardjo, on Wednesday inaugurated the Rumah Mutiara Indonesia (Indonesia Pearl House) in Pujut district, Central Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara.
The first-ever pearl house in Indonesia will become a center for South Sea pearl trading, and is aimed at promoting the pearl businesses in the future.
'The Rumah Mutiara Indonesia [RMI] will function as a regional pearl market, which will become a center for pearl trading, auctioning and grading so that [businesses] can meet the minimum quality requirements for exports,' Sharif said.
He said such functions were very important because the quality of pearls was a prerequisite in determining the price of pearls in the world market.
The Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry provided more than Rp 4.5 billion (US$382,068) in 2013 for the development of the two-storey building, which was built on a 4-hectare plot of land near the Lombok International Airport.
Central Lombok was chosen as the RMI location as it the biggest national producer of the South Sea pearl, which is regarded as a high-quality sea pearl and is in high demand.
According to Sharif, pearls are a prime commodity with good business prospects in the fisheries and maritime sectors. This can be seen in the demand for pearl jewelry, both in domestic and international markets, which has continued to increase.
Sharif said world pearl markets were dominated by four types of pearls: South Sea pearls, fresh water pearls, Akoya pearls, and black pearls.
Since 2005, he added, Indonesia has been the largest South Sea pearl producer in the world, contributing more than 43 percent of total global supply.
In terms of exports, however, Indonesia ranks ninth with a total value of $29 million or around 2.07 percent of total global pearl export value, which amounts to more than $1.41 billion per year. These figures are still far below other exporting countries, such as Australia, China, Hong Kong, Japan, Switzerland, Tahiti, the United Kingdom and the United States.
'But we are optimistic that Indonesia's pearl exports will continue to grow,' said Sharif. (idb/ebf)
