President Joko Widodo, or Jokowi as he popularly known, made his remark in a closed meeting on the evaluation of national strategic projects and priority program in North Sulawesi Province here on Tuesday.
"We know that North Sulawesi Province has a large potential in marine and fisheries sector, and this has been one factor to support Indonesia as the worlds maritime axis," he added.
Therefore, Jokowi noted that the development of Bitung Port as KEK should be expedited to help empower the provinces economy.
"Thus, it would be a concrete contribution in the effort to alleviate poverty and unemployment and increase peoples welfare," the president said.
In addition to the ports development, Jokowi has also called on the authorities to speed up the development of transportation infrastructure in the region.
"This is important to improve access and connectivity, while supporting development in tourism sector," he stated.
Development of transportation infrastructure is expected to ease foreign tourists entry, especially those from the Philippines, Japan, South Korea, and China.
The government would support the region to foster its tourism sector, especially its coastal and maritime tourism, in addition to the popular destination of Bunaken Marine Park.
"Other maritime destinations in North Sulawesi should also be developed," he noted.
He remarked that any hindrance in developing the region should be tackled as soon as possible.(*)
Editor: Heru Purwanto
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