Pearls Export Exceeds US$29 Million

Jakarta (Antara Bali) - The export value of Indonesian pearls has exceeded US$29 million, or about 2.07 percent of the world's pearl export value worth US$1.4 billion, said a senior official on Wednesday.

"Indonesia supplies 43 percent of the world's South Sea Pearls (SSPs), and it is the world's largest producer of SSP," said Saut P. Hutagalung, director general of the Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Affairs' Directorate General of Processing and Marketing of Fishery Products (PMFP).

He claims that Indonesia is ranked ninth in world trade, with export value of US$29,431,625 or 2.07 percent of the world's pearl trade value at US$ 1,418,881,897.

This achievement places Indonesia below Hong Kong, China, Japan, Australia, Tahiti, the United States, Switzerland, and England.

Meanwhile, export destinations of Indonesian pearls include Japan, Hong Kong, Australia, South Korea, Thailand, Switzerland, New Zealand, and France.

Indonesia's potential in this area can be enhanced by developing and strengthening the marketing sector.

Therefore, the Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Affairs (MMAF) and other stakeholders are conducting a number of ground-breaking and intensive programs to raise the potential of pearl production in Indonesia.

One of the recently held programs is the 2013 Indonesia Pearl Festival (IPF). The festival is aimed at enhancing the competitiveness of the Indonesian pearls sector.

The SSP comes from the pinctada maxima oyster, both naturally and culturally cultivated. (*/DWA)