Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs Rizal Ramli has made a lot of achievement during his 11-month term of office, an official said.

"I think while Mr. Rizal Ramli took office for 11 months, he did a lot of things. His achievement was very good," secretary of the Coordinating Ministry for Maritime Affairs Asep Djembar Muhammad said here on Wednesday.

Asep expressed the hope that Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan who replaced Rizal Ramli would continue his predecessors programs and make new programs which can expedite the development of the maritime sector.

It is the decision of President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) to replace Rizal Ramli with Luhut Pandjaitan as coordinating minister for maritime affairs, he said.

"He (the president) has his own choice and consideration. But hopefully, the new coordinating minister for maritime affairs will continue his predeecessors programs and make new programs to speed up the development of the maritime sector in Indonesia," he said.

Luhut Pandjaitan was previously coordinating minister for political, legal and security affairs. He was appointed to the post of coordinating minister for maritime affairs in the cabinet reshuffle announced on Wednesday.

Before President Joko Widodo announced the cabinet shakeup on Wednesday afternoon, Rizal Ramli in his Twitter account expressed gratitude to the public for their support to his performance.

"I have tried my best to serve the Indonesian nation and state. Thank you, the Indonesian people," he said in his @RamliRizal account on Wednesday morning. (*)

Editor: Heru Purwanto
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