Jokowi's Vision of Indonesia as a Maritime Power
By Aiswarya Laksmi
Tuesday, February 3, 2015
President Joko Widodo, popularly known as Jokowi, roadmap for Indonesia as a maritime power in the Indo-Pacific region, has been lauded by the international community, with several countries offering to cooperate with the government to realize this vision, according to a report in the Jakarta Post.
Coordinating Maritime Affairs Minister Indroyono Susilo revealed that when the President attended the APEC Summit in Beijing and the G-20 Summit in Australia leaders of top countries said they were ready to cooperate with Indonesia in the fields of fisheries and maritime resource development as well as maritime infrastructure development and capacity building.
Indonesia is also prioritizing cooperation in the maritime resources and fisheries sectors, he said.
To be part of a global maritime axis the country would focus on sea border limits, exclusive economic zone and continental shelf limits between Indonesia and its 10 neighboring countries.
Among the projects Indroyono hoped could help promote overseas were the construction of 24 new ports, including five deep sea ports at Kuala Tanjung in North Sumatra, Jakarta, Surabaya in East Java, Makassar in South Sulawesi and Sorong in West Papua.
Indonesia will immediately dispatch 12 research and survey vessels to collect hydro-oceanography data and sea biology and geology data that will be used in the negotiation of Indonesia’s sea border limits, Indroyono said.
On sea safety and security, he further said, Indonesia would continue its plan to cooperate with Russia for the procurement of amphibious observation aircraft for the Indonesia Navy.