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Our future is at sea: Jokowi
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Maritime axis -- President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo leads a Cabinet meeting at the Presidential Office in Jakarta. He said the government would set up a maritime development policy, in line with his goal for Indonesia to become the world’s maritime axis. (Courtesy of the Presidential Office/-)
P
resident Joko "Jokowi" Widodo has called on his Cabinet to set up a maritime development policy, which reiterates his goal for Indonesia to become the world’s maritime axis.
“We believe our future is at sea and we can be a great country if we manage to maintain and utilize our huge potential in the maritime sector. The maritime sector can become our economic driver," Jokowi said.
With the policy, he said, the government’s target to develop the maritime sector in the country could well be achieved.
In a limited Cabinet meeting at the Presidential Office on Wednesday, Jokowi said that as a country, in which 70 percent or two-thirds of its territory was ocean, this was the time for Indonesia to speed up the development of the maritime sector.
He explained that currently, Indonesia's maritime sector contributions were less than 30 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), lower than other maritime countries. Japan’s maritime sector, for instance, made up 48.5 percent of GDP.
Jokowi further said the potential of Indonesia’s maritime sector was worth US$1.2 trillion a year and expected the sector could absorb 40 million workers.
"This means there is still a lot of potential that has not yet been fully utilized," he said, adding that the country’s maritime development projects must be well-targeted.
"I hope our maritime development policy can consolidate the existing maritime development programs," the President added.
Jokowi told related ministries that the maritime development policy would be used as the reference and guidance of maritime development activities in the country.
"I also need to stress that this policy should not be only good on paper, but it should bring real positive impact in the improvement of the welfare of fishermen and Indonesian people overall," Jokowi said. (ebf)
