JAKARTA – The potential of Indonesia’s rich economic resources can be optimized through research. However, the research budget of the country is very small – even less than Malaysia’s.
Therefore, Chairman of Indonesian Regional Representative Council (DPD RI) AA LaNyalla Mahmud Mattalitti supported the idea of Coordinating Minister for Maritime and Investment Affairs (Marves) Luhut Binsar Panjaitan who encouraged President-elect Prabowo Subianto to buy research vessels with sophisticated tools, especially to map the wealth of the deep sea to potential disasters.
“Because the development of potential economic resources is directly proportional to prosperity, especially the potential in the food sector and the wealth of biodiversity and nature on land and in our seas,” LaNyalla said in his official statement in Jakarta, Wednesday (15/5).
The senator from East Java emphasized that research is one of the pillars of the nation’s economy and competitiveness. According to him, if one country is slow to respond to an increasingly competitive world, it will always be left behind.
“In fact, in a study by Research and Development World (2023), Indonesia only ranks 34th out of 40 countries. Our research budget was only US$8.2 billion in 2022. The ratio of research budget to GDP is the lowest,” he explained.
LaNyalla said, Indonesia with its vast territory and various kinds of potential must be supported by a huge research budget and sophisticated equipment. Research, he said, will support the development of Indonesia’s potential into a force that can be oriented towards the welfare of the people.
“This means that the great potential of this nation must be sought to be orientated towards improving the welfare of the community. How to develop it? It is through research,” he said.
In the context of food security, for example, in addition to strengthening the supply, distribution, and diversification of food, it is equally important to strengthen food technology, including biotech, which is certainly generated from research.
Moreover, Indonesia is often affected by weather anomalies, so findings of food seeds that are resistant to extreme weather are needed.
Previously, Coordinating Minister for Marves Luhut Binsar Panjaitan advised President-elect Prabowo Subianto to buy research vessels with sophisticated tools, especially to map deep-sea wealth and potential disasters.
“I will encourage Mr Prabowo to make this a priority,” he said during a press conference on the Indonesia-OceanX joint expedition, in Nusa Dua, Badung Regency, Bali.
According to him, the Indonesian government has the budget to buy exploration vessels for research with sophisticated tools. One of the advanced vessels for research is the OceanXplorer, owned by the OceanX marine exploration non profit organization with an estimated price of Rp3.5 trillion.
He revealed that to have a research vessel, it does not have to be luxurious, but mainly equipped with sophisticated equipment.
“Indonesia must be more aggressive, we cannot wait. How come a country of our size doesn’t have a ship for research?” he said.
