TEMPO.CO, London-Indonesia is aiming to boost marine products exports to Europe. According to Indonesian Ambassador to Belgium, Luxembourg and European Union, Yuri Octavian Thamrin, the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) with the European Union will bolster marine products exports to Europe. “Indonesia is aiming to accelerate the CEPA with Europe to boost export,” he said last weekend.
As an effort to introduce Indonesia’s fisheries products in Europe, Indonesia has participated in Seafood Expo Global (SEG) in Brussels on April 26-28, where it displayed its pinisi ship design at a pavilion of 288 square meters themed ‘Indonesia Seafood Naturally Diverse: Quali-safe and Sustainable’. The pavilion featured the stands of Marine Affairs and Fisheries Ministry and 18 fisheries companies. Some 1,700 companies from 75 major countries of global fish markets participated in the expo.
Director General for Marine and Fisheries Products Competitiveness of Marine Affairs and Fisheries Ministry, Nilanto Perbowo, said Indonesia has a huge potential in marine products export to the European Union. At present, Indonesia’s fisheries products export to Europe is only US$426 thousand (Rp5.6 billion) and ranked seventeenth among the entire suppliers. “The figure does not do justice to our maritime resources potential that reaches 65 million tons per annum,” he said.
At present, Indonesia has only exploited 20 percent of fisheries products export potential, Nilanto said. To increase the volume of fisheries export and production, Indonesia is seeking to establish new partnerships and eradicate illegal fishing.
NATALIA SANTI
