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resident Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo'€™s first speech was short, yet powerful. One key point he reiterated was consistent with his campaign, that Indonesia should be rebuilt into a maritime power.

He cited the motto of the Indonesian Navy, Jalesveva Jayamahe, that in the ocean we are glorious. The President also aims to revive the ocean and maritime sectors to contribute to the nation'€™s prosperity.

Indonesia has been long known as the globe'€™s largest archipelagic state. Through a historic diplomatic struggle it has convinced the world that it has full control over the waters around its thousands of islands. Instead of being separators, the waters are connectors of those islands. It is unsurprising therefore, albeit belated, for the new President to prioritize maritime issues.

There are several issues regarding ocean affairs and the law of the sea that Jokowi'€™s administration will face in the next five years. First, sovereignty and the sovereign rights of Indonesia over its maritime area are essential. The delimitation of maritime boundaries between Indonesia and its neighbors must be a priority.

Indonesia has claimed to have at least 10 neighbors '€” India, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam, Philippines, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Australia and Timor Leste '€” with which maritime boundaries need to be settled. So far, 19 maritime boundary treaties have been concluded with eight countries, either fully or partially, while no maritime boundaries have been settled with Palau and Timor Leste.

The two latest agreements were concluded this year; with the Philippines on May 23 and with Singapore on Sept. 3. This also indicates that Indonesia is truly a key player in the law of the sea by showing the peaceful settlement of maritime disputes.

This is a good precedent amid regional tensions regarding the South China Sea dispute, for instance. While Indonesia has been reasonably productive in agreeing to maritime boundary treaties with its neighbors, there are several pending maritime boundaries with almost all of the 10 countries.

Settling maritime boundaries is a bilateral matter and must be achieved through agreements. This indicates that the process will depend not only on Indonesia but also on the neighbors. From a recent statement by former president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, it can be inferred that maritime boundary delimitation with Malaysia, for example, did not proceed as fast as Indonesia expected. Seriousness from one side is certainly not enough to settle maritime boundaries. Therefore, to convince other neighbors that maritime boundaries are an issue to be taken seriously and immediately is a challenge for the new government.

Second, Indonesians need to start realizing that ocean resources are not unlimited. More importantly, we should mainly rely on human, not natural resources. We have witnessed how countries with poor natural resources can transform into rich and prosperous ones '€” while natural resource-rich countries can suffer from starvation. Switzerland, for example, does not have any cocoa plants but it produces one of the world'€™s best chocolates. The power of human resources is the key.

In addition, science and technology should be our future source of resilience for an innovative yet sustainable use of the ocean. Education, therefore, is the key. Jokowi'€™s administration needs to ensure that research and education on maritime issues receives a significant portion of the 20 percent of our national budget for education.

Third, Indonesia does not need to learn from distant places to deal with the ocean. Nusantara, as the region was known, was a strong maritime region with a vibrant maritime culture and society. Therefore Indonesia needs to learn from its past.

The foundation should be our own local wisdom where the maritime culture was based on the community and was holistic in nature. Traditional practices involving the sea commanders or panglima laot in Aceh, awig-awig in Nusa Tenggara, petuanan laut in Maluku, to name a few, need to be seriously reconsidered to see how they can contribute to maritime development in a modern Indonesia.

Fourth, the government needs to put policy into practice. Ocean issues have to become issues of the people, not only of the elites. Working in the maritime sector should enable people to afford a good living. It does not matter how good the concept; fisheries, for example, will never become something that Indonesia can be proud of until it can ensure a good life for its fishing communities.

Not until fishermen can afford a reasonably decent life and pay tuition fees for their children up to university, can people be proud to work in the maritime sector. In short, a policy can be beautiful and promising but the real question is whether it touches the life of real people.

Pak Jokowi, we are waiting for an ocean policy that actually works, so we can say Jalesveva Jayamahe at the end of your presidency.