The Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries (KKP) stated that the shrimp commodity is still the star of global demand for the marine and fisheries sector amid the corona virus (covid-19) pandemic. "Even though the Covid-19 pandemic is still ongoing, shrimp is still the star with global demand that is still very high today," said KKP's Director General of Aquaculture, Slamet Soebjakto in a statement quoted from Antara, Monday (26/10). Slamet revealed that shrimp is a commodity that provides a dominant share of export foreign exchange, which is around 40 percent of the total export value of national fishery products.
He assessed that shrimp farmers are still productive in carrying out the production process amid the pandemic. This can be seen in the shrimp farming business in the Javanese coast. At the same time, according to Slamet, a pandemic could open up opportunities for Indonesia to increase shrimp exports. This is because a number of competing countries are implementing regional lockdowns. "This pandemic could be our potential to meet global demand, because we now know together a number of competing countries that produce the world's largest vaname shrimp, such as India, are in lockdown," he said.
In the same statement, Minister of Marine Affairs and Fisheries Edhy Prabowo added that the aquaculture sector would receive the benefits of the Omnibus Law, especially in terms of opening up opportunities for investment in aquaculture. "Business actors and investors should no longer feel hesitant about engaging in the shrimp farming business. The government is currently facilitating the simplification of various types of licenses that are not needed and are considered to be hindering investment in this business," said Edhy.
The ease of doing business was also supported by the birth of the Fast Service Permit Information System (Silat) for licensing of fishing vessels over 30 GT which took effect online at the end of 2019. Through Silat, licensing was cut from 14 days to one hour. Until 7 October 2020, based on data from the KKP, the non-tax state revenue (PNBP) from the thousands of permits issued by Silat reached more than IDR470 billion. The ease of licensing now also applies in the aquaculture sector. Currently, the process is one-stop at the Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM), while the KKP acts as a joint supervisor with the local government.
