Gov’t to Develop 1,000 Fishing Villages This Year, 5,000 by 2029

President Prabowo Subianto delivers a speech at the 2026 Indonesia Economic Outlook, at the Danantara Indonesia Building, Jakarta, Friday (02/13). (Photo by: BPMI of Presidential Secretariat)

President Prabowo Subianto affirmed his commitment to strengthen the maritime sector by pushing for the development of integrated fishing villages throughout Indonesia. This effort reinforced President Prabowo’s vision of making the sea the future of Indonesia’s economy, where fishing villages become new centers of growth that are modern, self-reliant, and globally competitive.

The Government has set a target to build 1,000 fishing villages out of the total target of 5,000 villages set to be completed by 2029.

“Throughout the history of the Republic of Indonesia, fishers are not much appreciated. There are no ice factories in their villages. They could not get easy access to diesel fuel at the market. So, we want to improve their situation,” the President said during his speech at the 2026 Indonesia Economic Outlook, at the Danantara Indonesia Building, Jakarta, Friday (02/13).

The President added that the Government will provide each fishing village with an ice factory, a cold storage, a dock, boats, and operational vehicles to ensure distribution chain in fish caught from the village to the consumers is established effectively. He went on to say that this program is not a free assistance program but is managed through a cooperative.

“We will not roll out the assistance for free. It will be managed through a cooperative. All of their expenditures will be paid back to the banks and to the Government,” he added.

The Head of State also said that fishers will be given flexibility in the repayment of the investment in a fair manner so that this financing scheme would not be a burden, considering that even large businesses often receive credit restructuring.

“We will give them flexibility. They can repay the money in 10, 11, or 12 years. It is no big deal since even large businesses often apply for credit repayment for more than ten years. They even ask for credit restructuring,” he added.

In addition to fishing villages, President Prabowo also called for the acceleration of Red and White Cooperatives that will serve as the driver of rural economy. In the near future, hundreds of cooperatives will be fully operational. In total, almost 30,000 cooperatives and warehouses are being constructed. Each cooperative will be equipped with a warehouse, a cold storage, a basic needs store, a village clinic, an affordable village pharmacy, as well as light-interest micro-financing services to reduce the community’s dependence on loan sharks.

“People will have direct access to subsidized goods so there will be no more misuse,” he firmly said adding that the program will be financed from the Village Funds optimization in the past decade and will be managed more productively to bring concrete impacts to the public. (BPMI of Presidential Secretariat) (RAS/MMB)