There is one Chinese state-owned enterprise which (previously) had been a buyer of Vietnam's farming products…It has carried out a survey in Riau Islands.
Jakarta (ANTARA) - Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Minister Sakti Wahyu Trenggono has said that the newest regulation on lobster management has helped attract the interest of a Chinese investor.

"There is one Chinese state-owned enterprise which (previously) had been a buyer of Vietnam's farming products. That is what we attracted for investment here. It has carried out a survey in Riau Islands," he informed.

He made the statement during a working meeting with Commission IV of the House of Representatives (DPR) here on Tuesday.

According to him, investment in lobster farming would increase state revenue through the non-tax state revenue scheme.

Based on his calculations, the state will receive at least Rp900 billion (around US$55.19 million) in revenue from transactions involving lobster seed delivery abroad.

The government issued the Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Minister's Regulation Number 7 of 2024 on the Management of Lobster (Panulirus spp.), Crab (Scylla spp.), and Flower Crab (Portunus spp.) in March 2024.

Under the regulation, foreign companies investing in Indonesia can take lobster seeds out of the country to be farmed abroad.

Given the change in lobster management initiated through the ministerial regulation, the Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry has formed the Project Management Office (PMO) 724.

The office has been tasked with overseeing the implementation of the lobster management regulation, starting from catching lobster seeds in the wild, development of lobster farming, investment, and monitoring related to lobster seed utilization.

Trenggono expressed the hope that with the new lobster management, lobster seed smuggling abroad will continue to decline. The ministry is also continuing to strive to strengthen the supervision system, in line with the proposed increase in the ministry's budget in 2025.

At the meeting, the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries proposed a Rp4.47 trillion (around US$274.29 million) increase in its budget, taking the proposed indicative budget ceiling for 2025 to Rp10.7 trillion (around US$656.59 million).

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Translator: Sinta Ambarwati, Raka Adji
Editor: Azis Kurmala
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