"Almost 90 percent of our trade in fisheries is done with APEC members," the director for foreign marketing of the ministry, Saut Hutagalung, said in a statement received here on Tuesday.
In view of that he said the role of APEC was very important with regard to increasing exports and capacity building in the domestic fisheries and marine resource sector.
According to the ministry data, US$2.6 billion out of a total of US$2.89 billion worth of total fisheries exports in 2010 came from trade with members of APEC.
Hutagalung expressed the hope the export value could increase up to 15 percent this year.
"We hope it will become the main driver for achieving the target of US$3.2 billion in the value of fisheries exports in 2011," he said.
Besides being export destinations APEC member countries such as the US and Japan that have advanced technology are also considered able to help Indonesia in improving its fish processing technology.
He said the improvement was needed for the development of food security standards, fish breeding and growing.
As of Monday (June 6) 63 delegates from 15 APEC member countries have gathered in Bali for a fisheries working group annual meeting and a meeting of marine resource conservation working group.
The delegates have agreed by merging the meetings was they would have a better position to achieve the targets set in the Caracas Declaration made in Peru in 2010.
The merger plan and the new working group framework would only be submitted to the APEC Senior Officials Meeting in September 2011. (T.SYS/B/H-YH/S012)
(ANTARA)
Editor: Ella Syafputri
Copyright © ANTARA 2011
