Jakarta | Financing in the marine and fisheries sector, which is considered still lacking, is expected to be further strengthened and optimized so that it can become an additional source of national income.
"This sector actually has great potential, so it needs to be optimized as an alternative for the country's exports. Unfortunately, financing in this sector is still limited," said Commission XI DPR member Andreas Eddy Susetyo after the Jangkau, Sinergi, Guideline (Jaring) program FGD event in Jakarta on Tuesday.
According to records from the Financial Services Authority (OJK), he continued, credit for the marine sector overall was only 2.38 percent or Rp85 trillion of the total financing distribution of Rp3,600 trillion in 2014.
The low credit allocation for the marine sector, he added, is due to its high potential but also high risks. However, he believes that the profits that can be generated are also substantial, so ways must be found to minimize the risks.
"This sector has a high return, but also high risks, which is why credit allocation is low. Therefore, insurance is needed to protect against these risks. If this sector is optimized, it can also reduce poverty by creating jobs," he said.
At the same location, the Director of Bank Guarantee at Jaminan Kredit Indonesia (Jamkrindo), Bakti Prasetyo, acknowledged that banks still find it difficult to provide credit for the marine sector, especially for fishermen, due to high loss risks. However, with the OJK's Jaring program, fishermen can obtain credit even if they are not bankable, as long as their fisheries business is considered feasible.
"However, if they are unbankable, going directly to the bank does not guarantee approval unless they go through a guarantor institution. Still, their business must be deemed feasible to avoid non-performing loans," he said.
Jamkrindo itself, Bakti stated, will cover around 70 percent of non-performing loans from debtors for specific reasons, except for cases such as sunken ships, burned warehouses, and ice factories, as these are already covered by insurance.
"We only cover the credit with a 70 percent capacity, so the bank still holds a 30 percent risk," he said.
Regarding the potential of the marine sector, OJK's Director of Bank Supervision, Slamet Edy Purnomo, stated that this sector has a growth rate of 12 percent, with potential credit distribution in various subsectors, including Rp20.2 trillion in industry processing and services, Rp5.7 trillion in production processing, Rp6.1 trillion in marketing, Rp4.6 trillion in capture cultivation, Rp3.3 trillion in general cultivation, and Rp778 billion in upstream industries.
The OJK Jaring program, he said, will improve financing access to the marine and fisheries sector, playing a role in enhancing the welfare of fishermen and small and micro business players by increasing per capita income, creating more jobs, and boosting national growth.
"The Jaring program aims to meet stakeholders' needs for information on the marine and fisheries database, financing schemes, business risk mapping, and regulatory support from related authorities," said Slamet.
Regarding credit realization as of September 2015, which reached Rp4.41 trillion or nearly 82 percent of the targeted Rp5.37 trillion by the end of the year, Slamet stated that this was already a significant achievement, and he was confident the target would be met by the end of 2015.
"More than Rp4 trillion is already a substantial amount. I am confident that the target will be achieved or even exceeded due to the addition of new partner banks in the program," he said.
For financing in the marine and fisheries sector, eight banks are distributing the credit: BRI, BNI, Bank Mandiri, Bank Danamon Indonesia, BTPN, Bank Permata, Bank Bukopin, and BPD Sulselbar. Additionally, five new partner banks have joined the program: Bank Central Asia (BCA), Maybank Indonesia, CIMB Niaga, Bank Sinarmas, and BPD Jawa Timur.
(Source: Antara Riau)