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Marine Affairs and Fisheries Minister Sakti Wahyu Trenggono attends a working meeting with the House of Representatives' Commission IV in Jakarta on Wednesday (Jan 26, 2022). ANTARA/screenshot - 

Indonesia's investment in the marine and fisheries sector in 2021 had reached Rp6.02 trillion (US$419 million), Marine Affairs and Fisheries Minister Sakti Wahyu Trenggono stated.

"Investment in marine and fisheries in 2021, based on the data of BKPM (Investment Coordinating Board) and OJK (Financial Service Authority) as of September 2021, has reached Rp4.39 trillion. Until December 2021, the amount is expected to reach Rp6.02 trillion," Trenggono noted during a working meeting with the House of Representatives' Commission IV here on Wednesday.

The investors came from Singapore, Switzerland, India, Japan, and China, among others, for investment chiefly in East Java, West Java, Central Java, Jakarta, and Lampung.

Meanwhile, fishery production in 2021 had reached 24.480 million tons, the highest in seven years. In 2015, production was recorded at 22.311 million tons.

The minister affirmed that fish consumption in the country stood at 55.37 kg per capita per year.

"In terms of access to working capital, realization of micro loan disbursement in the marine and fisheries sector in 2021 had reached Rp8.05 trillion for 231,329 debtors. This is a 53.04-percent increase as compared to that in 2020," he remarked.

In addition, the number of business operators in the sector that had benefited from the micro loan had increased by 33.44 percent.

Trenggono remarked that non-tax state revenue from the sector was recorded at Rp1.7 trillion in 2021, comprising Rp708-billion revenue from fishery resources, Rp243 billion revenue from other sources, and Rp56.4 billion revenue from the Public Service Agency (BLU).

The minister also reported that the marine conservation area in 2021 had covered an area reaching 28.4 million hectares.

In a bid to address the problem of illegal fishing, the ministry had detained 167 illegal fishing ships during the year//ANT