JAKARTA. The government has been advised to establish a maritime university as part of its efforts to make Indonesia the world’s maritime axis in line with the vision of President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo.

“The idea for the establishment of the maritime university has to be prepared to support the President’s vision because due to its geographical and geo-economic positions Indonesia has the potential to become the world’s maritime axis,” Aiyub Mohsin, former Indonesian ambassador to Vietnam, said in Jakarta Wednesday as quoted by Antara news agency.

According to him, one of the main components to enable Indonesia become the world’s maritime axis is the availability of skilled human resources in maritime technology.

Aiyub said these human resources should have a mentality and orientation toward maritime affairs.

He cited as an example a similar program established by Vietnam, which has now become one of the biggest fish producers in the world.

In 2012 Vietnam, which has a 3,260-kilometer coastline with 1 million square kilometers of maritime territory, was able to export fish and shrimp worth US$6.8 billion and $2.5 billion respectively. 

All of this was made possible through the provision of skilled human resources, who were able to make use of the abundant resources in sea and coastal areas. They were educated at a maritime university which was established and managed by the Vietnamese government, Aiyub said.

Therefore, it was now time for the Indonesian government to pay attention to the establishment of a maritime university by unifying education institutions linked to maritime affairs to the level of academy or faculty in an integrated institution, which could be named the Indonesian Maritime University, he added.

Editor: Hendra Gunawan