Nusantara Day, which is celebrated every December 13, seeks to promote the Indonesian seas as the mainstay of national development, Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan has said.
“The purpose of Nusantara Day is to reiterate our maritime sector as the mainstay of national development and to manage our maritime resources for people’s welfare,” he explained during the 2022 Nusantara Day preparation meeting on Wednesday (October 19, 2022), according to a statement issued on Friday.
This year, the Nusantara Day commemoration will be chaired by the Minister of Investment as the central government organizer and hosted by Southeast Sulawesi province as the regional organizer, he noted.
The coordinating minister urged the organizing committee to optimize efforts to prepare for the Nusantara Day event, including its theme and logo.
“I ask the central government organizer and the regional organizer to organize the 2022 Nusantara Day from its preparation and events towards the peak event, and be responsible for the event’s success,” Pandjaitan remarked.
He urged Southeast Sulawesi Province and Wakatobi district authorities to take responsibility for the on-site event organization by coordinating with the central government organizer.
He also called for support from other government ministries and institutions to ensure the event’s success, considering its importance in promoting healthcare services for coastal and remote island residents and regional potentials to support national priority programs.
Nusantara Day marks the 1957 Djuanda Declaration by then-prime minister Djuanda Kartawidjaja, which declared the seas between Indonesian islands as an indivisible part of Indonesia.
Law No. 17 of 1985 on the Ratification of the 1982 UNCLOS highlighted the declaration as well as Indonesia’s character as an archipelagic state. Presidential Decision No. 126 of 2001 later designated December 13 as Nusantara Day.
Source: Antara News