President Discusses Efforts To Boost State Earnings

Jakarta, Nov 3 (Antara) - President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo chaired a cabinet plenary meeting here on Monday to discuss efforts to increase state earnings. "The closed-door meeting was held to discuss the efforts to increase state earnings," the president stated, adding that he had appointed the new cabinet secretary. The efforts to increase state earnings from various sectors had become the key priority of numerous ministries in the working cabinet, including the Ministry of Maritime and Fisheries. Maritime and Fisheries Minister Susi Pudjiastuti has forecast that the state losses inflicted by illegal fishing across Indonesian waters could reach trillions of rupiah. "The state losses have reached more than Rp11 trillion," Susi claimed during a press meeting at her office last Friday. She pointed out that some 5,329 vessels with deadweight of over 30 Gross Tonnage (GT) had procured licenses to operate from the Ministry of Maritime and Fisheries. She revealed that with regard to the 5,329 vessels, it was known that the government subsidy for the fishing industry was projected to reach around Rp11.5 trillion per year. However, the Maritime and Fisheries Ministry was only able to generate around Rp300 billion in non-tax state income from those ships. Hence, Susi noted that the state revenue was disproportionate to the amount that the government had to spend on the fishing industry. Therefore, the maritime and fisheries minister has emphasized that the regulation with regard to fishing should be revised in order to derive greater income from the fisheries sector and to improve the welfare of traditional fishermen. Regarding the efforts to overcome the obstacles faced in attracting investment, President Jokowi said he would discuss the matter with relevant ministers in his cabinet to find out how to ease licensing.