Jokowi Asks To Optimize The Downstreaming Sea Commodities Of Karagenan And Fish Flours

President Jokowi visited the Bintaro Jaya Modern Market. (Setkab)

JAKARTA - President Joko Widodo (Jokwoi) wants the national marine sector's natural resources (SDA) to provide added value. The head of state, considering the potential for Indonesian marine resources, is very large.

"Don't forget, what is called our marine natural resources will provide great added value if we go downstream. Remember that Indonesia's two-thirds are water, sea, ocean. Our oceans are 3.25 million kilometers, huge. We haven't done anything about the potential yet," Jokowi said in his direction at the Financial Services Industry Meeting in Jakarta, Monday, February 6, confiscated by Antara.

He gave an example, Indonesia can become the number one exporter of seaweed products in raw form. However, Indonesia is only the number three exporter of carragenan products or compounds that are extracted from seaweed that function to make congestion.

Meanwhile, Jokowi continued, China, which is the number one importer of seaweed, could also be the number one exporter of karagents. According to him, apart from being the number one exporter of seaweed, Indonesia could also be the number one exporter of its derivative product, namely karagentan.

"RRT (China) was the number one seaweed importer and at the same time was the number one exporter of carragenan. This must be imitated. We (Indonesia) should be the number one exporter of raw materials, but also the number one exporter of carragenan. It should be like that, and the added value here will jump," he explained.

Jokowi also said that Indonesia is also the number one exporter of fresh fish products, such as tuna, skipjack, tuna; but Indonesia is also the number one importer of fish derivative products, such as fish flour.

"It's funny. We push it out and we import it in the form of fish flour. Can't we do this, industrialize our fish into fish flour? How difficult is it? Is it really difficult? No. If we can't afford it, partner with partners, partners, don't hesitate to go there," he said.

He stressed that China is the number 2 importer for tuna, skipjack and fresh tuna products; but the country can be the number four exporter of fish flour.

"Gandeng partner. There are still many seaweed, tuna, skipjack, tuna, shrimp. This added value many times. It becomes citosan fertilizer 27 times the added value. Rajungan becomes 3.2 times crab meat. If everything is lost domestically, we jump our country. Our GDP will jump, our GDP will jump," he explained.

The most important thing, said Jokowi, is to integrate everything for downstreaming. Therefore, he asked the Financial Services Authority (OJK) for support to participate in socializing the importance of downstreaming.

"Because the projected impact of downstreaming from mineral and coal (mineral and coal), oil and gas, and marine can reach 715 billion US dollars; and the jobs that are built can be 9.6 million, very large. This is what we will continue to pursue," he said.