VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

The State-owned Enterprises (SOEs) Ministry encourages fisheries SOEs to strengthen the fish processing and trading sector to meet the domestic and export demand.

"Fisheries is one of the commodities that must be prioritized according to the directives of President Joko Widodo and SOEs Minister Erick Thohir," First Deputy Minister of SOEs Pahala N. Mansury stated as quoted from the official social media account of state-run agroindustry company PT Rajawali Nusantara Indonesia (RNI) here on Wednesday.

The statement was conveyed while he was reviewing the state-owned fisheries corporation PT Perikanan Indonesia's (Perindo's) docked fishing boats, fish processing sites, and cold storage at Benoa, Bali Province.

In addition, he met with the company’s partners, comprising fishermen, ship owners, and fish farmers.

The first deputy minister highlighted significant improvement in PT Perindo following the merger with PT Perikanan Nusantara.

PT Perindo is expected to develop the markets with vast potential, such as Benoa.

President Director of PT RNI Arief Prasetyo Adi has fully supported the inclusiveness of fishermen, fish processors, and PT Perindo's business activities in all branches, including in Benoa.

He has urged PT Perindo to strengthen the export market and support the inclusiveness of fishermen across Indonesia.

"Meanwhile, PT RNI will support attempts by strengthening sourcing in the upstream sector and facilitating exports in collaboration with the Indonesia Trading Company (PT PPI)," he stated.

Furthermore, President Director of PT Perindo Sigit Muhartono emphasized that the company is preparing to forge ahead at a swift pace in 2022.

"PT Perindo will strengthen the fish processing and trading sector as the company's main business focus in future. It will increase its role in empowering fishermen," he remarked.

Muhartono assessed that prior to the merger, PT Perindo's fish processing and trading business was still far from optimal. Prior to the merger, the company’s main source of revenue was the port business sector.  (Antaranews)