Speaking at the Indonesia Development Forum 2023 in Batam City, Riau on Monday (18/12/23,) National Development Planning Minister, Suharso Monoarfa, said that Indonesia has enormous blue economic potential since the country’s seas are home to almost 60-percent of the world’s coral reefs and store abundant gas and fishery resources, according to reporting from Antara News.
“About 56-58 percent of the world’s coral reefs are in Indonesia, most of which can be found in Raja Ampat (West Papua) and Sawu Sea (East Nusa Tenggara),” he said, emphasizing that seas constituted priceless assets of Indonesia, considering that they store abundant amounts of natural gas as well as wealth of fishery resources.
Antara News say the minister cited the volume of natural gas stored in the Natuna Sea alone that reaches as much as 222-trillion cubic feet (TCF), with the reserves hitting 46 TCF
The minister then said that the Natuna Sea has the potential to produce 504,000 tons of fishery products on an annual basis, adding that the sea has been accommodating nearly one-third of the world’s shipping activities.
“It should be noted that Natuna is not the only one, as we also have the Malacca Strait, Cenderawasih Bay (Papua), Capalulu Strait (North Maluku), and many more,” he said.
He then noted that Indonesia’s enormous blue economy potential is also reflected in the country’s potential value of marine and fishery sectors, reaching USD 1.3-trillion per year, according to a study in 2020, say Antara News.
Moreover, the volume of marine product exports during the COVID-19 pandemic only declined by 3.2-percent, he added.
The minister pointed out that the blue economy is expected to create around 12-million new job opportunities by 2030, provide 40-times more renewable energy by 2050, and increase marine-based food supply by sixfold by 2050, say Antara News.
He noted that the potential benefits gained from investment in the blue economy are expected to hit USD 15.5-trillion by 2050.
Monoarfsa also expressed belief that by optimizing its large blue economy potential, Indonesia would yield economic benefits while ensuring protection for biodiversity and significantly lowering greenhouse gas emissions.
Source: Antara News
