The Republic of Indonesia is Potentially World's Largest Seaweed Producer, Teten: It Can Replace Wheat

Coordinating Minister for SMEs Teten Masduki (Photo: Kemenkop UKM)

JAKARTA - Minister of Cooperatives and SMEs (Menkop UKM) Teten Masduki assesses that the Wakatobi area in Southeast Sulawesi (Sultra) has the potential to become the number one seaweed producer in the world.

The reason is, in this area the potential for the marine sector is very large, especially the superior commodity in the form of seaweed which could be part of the national downstream program.

"Our country still imports quite a lot of wheat, even though research shows that 30 percent of wheat can be substituted from processed seaweed. If this potential continues to be maximized, Wakatobi could become the world's number one seaweed producer," said Minister Teten in a written statement received by VOI, Friday, November 3.

Minister Teten said that Indonesia is the second largest seaweed producer in the world, producing 27.86 percent of the 35.8 million tons of world seaweed production.

Even so, around 65 percent of seaweed products exported are still raw/non-processed materials. In fact, Teten assesses that seaweed has the potential to be processed into raw materials for the pharmaceutical, beauty and other industries.

"For this reason, President Jokowi in the industrialization concept is trying to involve cooperatives and MSMEs. So, those who process it must be cooperatives and MSMEs, not large ones so that the economic cake can be enjoyed by everyone," he said.

He emphasized that currently the government is preparing Indonesia in 2045 as a developed country, namely a country whose knowledge and technology continues to develop, with high per capita income.

Currently, as many as 97 percent of employment opportunities are provided by the micro and small sectors, with the average business still being a subsistence economy, only meeting family needs and being informal.

"We could fail to become a developed country if we don't immediately provide quality jobs. One of the programs towards a developed country is the industrialization or downstream program," said Teten.

Furthermore, Teten hopes that the 2023 Wakatobi WAVE MSME Expo can encourage all parties, especially Wakatobi which is starting to direct the evolution of MSMEs to become part of the world supply chain and become one of the economic forces or industrialization of marine raw materials.

On the same occasion, Wakatobi Regent Haliana said data from the Wakatobi Cooperatives and Manpower Service showed that there were 32,321 MSMEs. Of this number, 1,100 businesses have a Business Identification Number (NIB). Then, of the 47 cooperatives that have a Cooperative Identification Number (NIK), 30 are cooperatives.

"It is hoped that this number will increase, because currently making NIB and NIK is very easy so that it can be used by MSMEs, to access capital and business capacity in the future," he said.

Haliana hopes that the annual expo and festival held in Wakatobi will be a real form of support for MSMEs. By holding an expo, it not only helps MSMEs promote, but also expands MSMEs' access to information so that they collaborate so that their businesses can grow.

"Likewise, the presence of PLUT in Wakatobi can become a shelter for MSMEs, so that they can support and support each other for the progress of MSMEs in Wakatobi," he said.

For your information, the Minister of Cooperatives and SMEs (Menkop UKM) Teten Masduki recently made a working visit to Wakatobi, Southeast Sulawesi.

He was the government representative who opened the UMKM Expo event at the 2023 Wakatobi Wonderful Festival and Expo (Wakatobi WAVE) in Wakatobi, Southeast Sulawesi, Friday, November 3.

During his visit to Wakatobi, Minister Teten also inspected a number of MSME facilities in the area, namely, the Joint Production House (RPB) land and the Integrated Business Service Center for Cooperatives and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (PLUT-KUMKM).

It is hoped that the existence of PLUT-KUMKM in this area can help cooperatives and MSMEs develop their businesses for the better.