Jakarta,
Nov 30, 2012 (ANTARA) - The recent visit of Norwegian Crown Prince Hakoon
Magnus and Crown Princess Mette-Marit - the first ever by a member of
Norway's royal family to Indonesia - has helped boost bilateral
cooperation between the two countries in various fields such as
deforestation, democracy, and fishery.
The
Norwegian fishing industry is one of the world's largest, and seafood
is Norway's third largest export item - after metal and oil and gas.
The Norwegians have the experience, competency, and advanced technology
to catch, breed, and export fish and fish products to various markets
all over the world.
Indonesia is a maritime country with over 17,500 islands. Its waters
are abundant in fish, but the country's marine fishing industry has not
developed.
Therefore, Indonesia is keen to learn from Norway about ways to develop
its fishery industry, particularly on how to use advanced technology
and equipment to boost the sector.
The visit of the Norwegian Crown Prince provided the momentum to
strengthen bilateral cooperation in fishery to support Indonesia's food
security program.
"Indonesia and Norway are exploring new ways to intensify and
strengthen their cooperation in marine and fisheries development, as
well as to take the bilateral relations to a higher level," Maritime
Affairs and Fisheries Minister Sharif Cicip Sutardjo said on Tuesday,
after meeting with Norway's Deputy Minister for Fishery and Coastal
Affairs, Kristine Gramstad, in Jakarta.
He stated that Norway had been successful in developing its fisheries and marine industry in a sustainable manner.
"The country, for instance, has managed to generate electricity from sea currents," Sutardjo added.
Indonesia and Norway are keen to increase bilateral cooperation in
joint research, pilot projects, information exchange, capacity building,
and exchange of experts, officials and technical staff.
Sutardjo expressed hope that the bilateral cooperation between
Indonesia and Norway would help boost food security in Indonesia.
"The
Norwegian-Indonesian cooperation in the fisheries institutional
capacity building covers four main aspects: strengthening and
integration of institutions; fisheries resources and sustainable
development studies; aquaculture innovation and development; and
post-harvest development," he explained.
Minister Sutardjo also expressed his gratitude to the Norwegian
government for establishing cooperation with Indonesia in the fisheries
sector over the past three years.
"The
cooperation project, which was completed this year, has clearly helped
improve the knowledge and capability of the ministry's personnel with
regard to fisheries technology and research," the minister said.
Indonesia and Norway established bilateral cooperation in the fisheries
sector in 2009, which included exchange of fisheries experts.
In October 2009, the two countries organized a seminar on "Aquaculture -
Cooperation between Indonesia and Norway" in Jakarta, because Indonesia
wanted to learn about aquaculture technology from Norway.
The
then Indonesian fisheries minister, Fadel Muhammad, said during the
opening of the seminar that Norway's aquaculture technology ¿is the
best in the world and Indonesia hopes to get access to the transfer of
the technology¿.
Salmon imports
Although
Indonesia is rich in seafood, its waters do not have salmon fish. The
best quality salmons are found abundantly in Norway.
Many Indonesians are fond of salmons, so Indonesia's salmon imports
from Norway have increased in the past few years - from 400 tons in 2005
to an estimated 1,400 tons in 2015.
"Salmon has gained much popularity in Indonesia," said Christian
Chramer, the director of Norwegian Seafood Council, in a press statement
recently.
"Norwegian salmon is highly nutritious and has been served with Japanese dishes of sushi and sashimi," he noted.
As one of the world's largest producers of salmon, Norway expects to develop a new market in Indonesia.
"Indonesia is a potential market of salmon from Norway. We wish to
export the best quality salmon to Indonesia," Crown Prince Hakoon Magnus
said during a visit to Yogyakarta in Central Java on Wednesday.
"Salmon
is Norway's biggest export commodity and I want to continue promoting
it across the world so more and more people know about it," he
explained.
Indonesia has also asked Norway to open its market for various fisheries commodities from Indonesian waters.
"We are urging Norway to open its market for fisheries commodities from
Indonesia," said Saut Hutagalung, the Maritime Affairs and Fisheries
Ministry's director general for fishery product marketing and
processing, recently.
"Ornamental fish has so far been Indonesia's main fisheries export item to Norway," he added. ***2***
(f001/INE)
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