Indonesia to build ship industry to optimize blue economy development

Indonesia to build ship industry to optimize blue economy development

Jakarta, The Gulf Observer: Deputy for Maritime Affairs and Natural Resources of the National Development Planning Ministry, Vivi Yulaswati, echoed the government’s readiness to develop the ship industry to optimize development of the blue economy in Indonesia.

“This can be in the form of labor-intensive, capital-intensive, and of course, technology-intensive,” she told ANTARA on Monday.

Yulaswati highlighted that development of the ship industry had been included by her side in the 2023-2045 Blue Economic Development Roadmap launched on July 3.

According to Yulaswati, development of the ship industry can be realized in the form of manufacture of ships, especially for small ships, using renewable fuel for tourism and local logistics shipment.

Apart from developing the ship industry, she affirmed that the government is also ready to develop maritime services.

“We also need to pursue maritime service development because we have three Indonesian Islands Waterways (ALKI). Singapore alone has one Island Waterway, and its maritime services are extraordinary,” she stated.

Earlier, Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment, Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, had encouraged development of the maritime industry and downstreaming of maritime resources. According to Pandjaitan, these two sectors need some improvements.

The minister also assessed that the maritime processing industry, ship manufacture, and ship maintenance and repair services industry needed to be revived.

“We need to re-activate these sectors. If a party wants to maintain their ships in a foreign country, maybe, we can charge them with more expensive taxes,” he stated.

Pandjaitan then emphasized that the blue economy approach must become the mainstream of Indonesia’s future development, as the concept balances the economy and ecology.

He reminded that Indonesia must be aware and continue to utilize its potential and encourage development based on the blue economy. This is because 70 percent of Indonesia’s territory is covered with water, reaching 6.4 million square kilometers of sea area, with myriad potential.