THE INDONESIAN government hopes to groom 1,000 new entrepreneurs in the fisheries sector three years from now.
This was revealed by Marine and Fisheries Product Competitiveness director general Artati Widiarti, according to the Antara news agency.
The 2024 target is considered a priority for the Marine Affairs and Fisheries ministry, Artati said and that trainings have started in the sector.
"This is our contribution to support the growth of national entrepreneurs as one major project in the Medium-term Development Plan," Artati said in a statement on Sunday.
The latest was a training programme on fisheries entreneurship conducted on Sept 17, attended by 200 participants from 20 provinces.
Artati said it covered training on marine and fishery product processing, packaging and promotion design, online business strategy, and licensing.
In 2020, she said, the ministry has succeeded in creating 100 entrepreneurs in fish processing.
Business and Investment director Catur Sarwanto said the participants had earlier completed a 3-month online training programme run by the ministry.
Based on preliminary observation, 116 participants (58 percent) already run businesses in the sector and 84 others (42 percent) were still learning to start the business.
"We hope that all participants could become strong entrepreneurs, creative, innovative, competitive and could open new jobs for the locals, hence they can help increasing local economy," he said.
Marine Affairs and Fisheries minister Sakti Wahyu Trenggono said the ministry will continue to support the micro, small and medium-scale enterprises (MSMEs).