JOKOWI SHOWCASES HIS MARITIME AXIS VISION ON WORLD STAGE by Fardah

   Jakarta, Nov 14, 2014 (Antara) - New Indonesian President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo, during his debut at the APEC Summit and the East Asian Summit (EAS), highlighted his vision of transforming Indonesia into a global maritime axis before several world leaders.
    "Indonesia, a maritime nation, wants to become a global maritime axis, which can bring prosperity to its people," he affirmed during the plenary session of the 9th EAS held to coincide with the ASEAN Summit in Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar, on Nov. 13, 2014.

        As a nation located between the Indian and Pacific Oceans, Indonesia must affirm itself as the world's maritime axis, he stated. 

    He emphasized that in order to meet the goal, Indonesia will rebuild its maritime culture.

         "Living in a country with more than 17 thousand islands, the Indonesian people must be able to see and understand that our identity, prosperity, and future will be determined by how we manage the oceans," he noted.

        Indonesia is located right in the middle of the strategic change process geographically, politically, and economically, he stressed.

        The country's three archipelagic sea lanes (ALKI) are the world's maritime traffic "lanes."      
    Its position as the global maritime axis will unfurl opportunities for Indonesia to establish cooperation, both regionally and internationally, for the welfare of its people, according to Jokowi.

         He stated that the government was committed to safeguarding and managing marine resources with emphasis on achieving marine food sovereignty through the development of the fisheries industry with fishermen as its main pillar.

         "Our maritime wealth will be exploited for the greatest benefit of our people," he noted.

         Infrastructure, such as sea tolls, deep sea ports, shipping industry, and maritime-based tourism, will also be built to support the nation's aspiration to become a global maritime axis.

         Jokowi also highlighted the importance of maritime diplomacy that will facilitate better cooperation between Indonesia and its partnering countries in handling future global challenges.

          "Together, we must solve conflicts at sea such as illegal fishing, the violation of maritime borders, piracy, border disputes, and marine contamination," he remarked.

         Another agenda is to build a maritime defense force, he revealed.
    "This is needed not only to protect our sovereignty and maritime wealth but it is also our responsibility to ensure maritime and shipping security and safety," he emphasized.

         Jokowi said he had decided to introduce his vision on maritime axis in the EAS as Indonesia considered the summit to play a vital role in maintaining security, stability, and economic prosperity in the region.        
   "Indonesia is aware that a major transformation is going on in this 21st century. The world's geo-economic and geo-political center of gravity has shifted from the West to East Asia. The Asian nations are rising," Jokowi said.  
  Having enjoyed an annual average economic growth of seven percent and a total GDP of around US$40 trillion, the East Asian region is the most dynamic region economically, given the fact that some 40 percent of the global trade takes place in the region.

         The EAS' plenary session was attended by ten leaders of the ASEAN member nations: Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah of Brunei Darussalam, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, President Joko Widodo of Indonesia, Prime Minister Thongsing Thammavong of Laos, Prime Minister Najib Razak of Malaysia, Prime Minister U Thein Sein of Myanmar, President Benigno Aquino III of the Philippines, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong of Singapore, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha of Thailand, and Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung of Vietnam.

         Other leaders attending the summit were Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India, Prime Minister Tony Abbott of Australia, Prime Minister Li Keqiang of China, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan, President Park Geun-Hye of South Korea, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev of Russia, Prime Minister John Key of New Zealand, and President Barack Obama of the United States.

        In his first appearance at the APEC Forum held in Beijing, on Nov. 10, 2014, Jokowi also spoke at length about the nation's maritime agenda.

          "We want to build a sea toll. What is a sea toll? Sea toll is a maritime transportation system to lower our transportation cost. In the coming 5 years, we want to build 24 seaports and deep sea ports. As you know, we have 17 thousand islands, so we need seaports and deep sea ports. And this is your opportunity (to cooperate in the development of) 24 seaports and deep seaports," he informed some world leaders, including US President Barack Obama.

         Indonesian Foreign Affairs Minister Retno L.P. Marsudi had earlier remarked that she would push for the realization of the vision to make Indonesia the world's maritime axis.

        The concept would be put forward in bilateral, regional, and international meetings in a bid to realize the maritime vision of the government, Marsudi, Indonesia's first woman foreign affairs minister, recently stated.
      "We will seek to carry out the programs and mission put forth by the president and push for their realization," she remarked in her first news conference as the new foreign minister.

           As the world's largest archipelago, Indonesia is keen to be on the frontlines in mainstreaming the maritime issue and to raise it as a global issue in multilateral forums such as the UN, ASEAN, Indian Ocean Rim Association, and the Pacific Islands Forum.

         The programs are in accordance with President Jokowi's vision to revive Indonesia's past maritime glory.

         While speaking during a discussion on Indonesia's self-reliance as a global maritime axis held in Jakarta, on Nov. 13, Director of Archipelago Solidarity Foundation Engelina Pattiasina stated that the public had the right to obtain further information on Jokowi's maritime axis concept.

          Jokowi should elaborate on the direction and implementation of the maritime axis concept he had announced during the July 2014 presidential election campaigns.

           "One of the Jokowi-Jusuf Kalla (JK) presidential ticket's missions, as per their election campaigns, was to make Indonesia a self-reliant, advanced, and strong maritime state whose priority will be of key national interest," she added.

          Engelina, who is also a former member of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDIP) faction in the House of Representatives (DPR), pointed out that the maritime axis concept takes into consideration international, regional, and domestic dimensions and covers multi-sector interests.

          Indonesia must be consistent with its vision to emerge as the main player in the global maritime sector as it has all the resources required to become a global maritime axis, she noted.

        "The challenge before the Jokowi-JK government is to come up with an idea to increase Indonesia's bargaining power in the global maritime sector as it is located in the global maritime axis," she added.

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