In order to welcoming the Asean Economic Community (MEA), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Republic of Indonesia through the Directorate General of Foreign Cooperation held a “Socialization And Supporting Suggestion Policy For Utilization Of Fishery Development In Asean As The Improving Impact Of Indonesian Fishery Market Access To South East Asia”. The event was held in Palembang on Tuesday, 7 November 2017. Besides representatives from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, also invited several resource person in the event, Governor of South Sumatera which represented by Mr. Nasrun Umar; Expert Staff of Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries, Dr. Ahmad Poernomo; Acting Chief Department of Marine and Fisheries South Sumatera Province, Widada Sukrisna; Chief IFRDMD, Dr. Arif Wibowo.
Representing the Governor of South Sumatra, Regional Secretary of South Sumatera, Mr. Nasrun Umar expressed his optimism to see the current economic development in Palembang City. Palembang should increase economic independence in order to welcome MEA, with strengthen potential economic sectors such as fisheries and marine sector. At the end of his speech, he stated that the South Sumatra Government strongly supports the economic development of the community, and hope this event will be able to provide benefits for all.
SEAFDEC/IFRDMD will continue to contribute to the development of fisheries in Indonesia, especially inland waters. It was revealed by Chief IFRDMD, Dr. Arif Wibowo in his speech. IFRDMD is a regional institution that is directly connected with Research Institute for inland Fisheries and Extension under the auspices of the Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries. Around 60 million people depend on inland fisheries sectors in Indonesia. Therefore the concept of fisheries management should be in harmony with the economic community. He also explained how important and helpful the existence of SEAFDEC?IFRDMD in Indonesia especially in Palembang, related to capacity building, establishing networking and cooperation with outsiders.