U.S. Investor To Build Fish Processing Plant In West Nusa Tenggara

Mataram, W Nusa Tenggara, Dec 3 (ANTARA) - The US investor, North Atlantic Seafood, plans to build a fish processing factory in West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) province. "The NTB governor has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to develop a sustainable fishery business in Santong bay, Plampang subdistrict, Sumbawa district," the head of NTB secretariat`s public relations bureau, Tri Budiprayanto, said here on Sunday. The MoU was signed by NTB Governor M. Zainul Majdi and PT Bali Seafood Internasional Chief Executive Officer Gerald C. Knecht, he said. "The project will cost US$4 million which is expected to absorb abundant fish catch in Eastern Indonesia," he said. "Moreover, a lot of fishery companies are operating in Western Indonesia which does not fully absorb the fish catch from Eastern Indonesia," he said. Budiprayanto stated that the factory will process several fish species, such as tuna, mohi, snapper and emperor which have the potential to be developed in NTB. He noted that Santong bay located among the triangle regions of Saleh bay, Moyo and Tambora islands has the potential to be developed into a fishery minapolitan and tourism spot. "Therefore, basic infrastructures are needed to develop a port at the bay," he said. "The fish catch will be processed and exported to US. This way, PT Bali Seafood Internasional really expects to build sustainable fishery business, particularly in Santong bay," he added. He expressed hope that the sustainable fishery development could optimize the function of fish port in Santong bay and boost the regional economic growth by increasing regional income and creating more jobs. "Moreover, the cooperation could optimize the natural resources in the region related to the program of sustainable fishery resources processing," he added.