RI To Market Seaweed To Japan

Morotai (Antara Bali) - Indonesia's Trade Ministry has announced that it is going to export seaweed, one of its mainstay commodities, to Japan.

"Japan is one of Indonesia's trade partners, especially in wooden furniture and automotive spare parts. Therefore, the market access for seaweed export to Japan should continue to expand," said Director of Export and Creative Economy Development Product, Gatot Prasetyo Adjie, in a press release received by ANTARA, here on Friday.

He added that Japan was a huge market for Indonesian products, especially seaweed which is known as 'nori' in the country. The culture of eating seaweed is traditional in Japan, with the people consuming it as a main dish.

Due to the development, Indonesia will keep on improving the quality of its seaweed production, which is one of its biggest marine produce. The Marine and Fishery Ministry has also targeted increasing production of seaweed in Indonesia to 5.1 million tonnes by the end of 2012.

One of the efforts involved to help meet the target is to develop polyculture cultivation of seaweed. "The target of seaweed production in 2012 has been increased by 18.6 percent over the figure from the previous year," Minister of Marine and Fishery Affairs Sharif Cicip Sutardjo said.

The development of polyculture cultivation will be used to increase the production of seaweed in six districts/cities in west Java, namely Cirebon City, Cirebon district, Indramayu, Subang, Karawang and Bekasi.(*/T007)