November 16, 2012

Indonesia's fish exports behind Thailand and Vietnam

Despite reaching US$4 billion in its fish exports, Indonesia still lags behind Thailand and Vietnam.

Without giving details about the total value of fish exports from Thailand and Vietnam, the secretary general of the Ministry of Maritime and Fisheries, Gellwyn Jusuf said on Wednesday (Nov 14), "Indonesia receives more income from cultivated fish than from those in the sea."

Indonesia's cultivated fish production is around five million tonnes, said Jusuf adding that marine fish production is around three million tonnes.

"We cannot hope too much from our fishing activities in the sea," he said adding that the country needs to improve the competitiveness of fish products.

Indonesia aims to increase fish production from the current 14 million tonnes to 22.39 million tonnes by 2015.

In a move to make Indonesian fish exports more competitive in the international market and to increase exports, President Yudhoyono had earlier said that the country needs to develop the processed fish industry at par with global standards.