Maritime Axis should Lead to Economic Security :Expert

Jakarta (Antara) - The maritime axis envisioned by President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo should lead to economic security in Indonesia, according to the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) Head of Research Center for Oceanography Zainal Arifin. "The maritime axis should be able to create food and energy security and defense that lead to economic security," Zainal emphasized here on Wednesday. He stated that as President Jokowi was an entrepreneur, so it was natural that the maritime axis concept encompassed the maritime toll road, sea ports, and shipping and transportation. According to him, infrastructure development should be prioritized to make Indonesia a global maritime axis and to promote the fisheries sector in Indonesia. "Transmigration of fishermen in the past was successful enough, but the fishery products at the time were not highly salable. In the province of Maluku, for instance, fish catch was extremely abundant, but in a particular season, the catch was wasted due to inadequate post-harvest infrastructure," he noted. Zainal pointed out that Indonesia is a country with abundant marine fishery potential, and therefore, infrastructure development to strengthen Indonesia as a maritime axis should also include fisheries post-harvest technology. "Actually, the fishermen have knowledge of several traditional post-harvest technologies, but they should be developed into appropriate technologies," he remarked. He noted that several post-harvest technologies have been developed. LIPI, for instance, has developed cold fogging technology without the use of fire. During the summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Forum in Beijing on November 10-11, 2014, President Jokowi laid emphasis on maritime connectivity or maritime toll road. (*)