President Targets Development of 1,000 Fishing Villages in 2026

Jakarta: President Prabowo Subianto has announced the government’s plan to modernize and empower at least 1,000 coastal villages this year under the Red and White Fishing Villages program.

“Our target is to develop 1,000 fishing villages in 2026, with a broader goal of reaching 5,000 villages by 2029,” he said at the Indonesia Economic Outlook 2026 event in Jakarta on Friday, as quoted by Antara on Saturday, February 14, 2026.

Prabowo stressed that since Indonesia’s founding, his administration is the first to give special focus to fishermen and coastal communities as part of efforts to strengthen the maritime and fisheries sector.

Under the program, each fishing village will be equipped with supporting infrastructure such as ice factories, cold storage facilities, docks, and boats to improve the efficiency of the fisheries supply and distribution chain.

He clarified that the initiative is not designed as a grant-based program but will operate under a cooperative business model.

“This is not about charitable handouts. It is based on a cooperative scheme. Fishermen will repay the costs to banks and the government,” he said, adding that repayment periods may range from 10 to 12 years.

The extended repayment period, he noted, reflects the government’s commitment to fairness, comparable to financing schemes typically provided to major companies.

In addition to the fishing villages program, Prabowo confirmed ongoing efforts to accelerate the development of facilities and infrastructure for more than 80,000 cooperatives established under the Red and White Village Cooperatives program.

He said the government is building warehouses, cold storage facilities, grocery outlets, clinics, pharmacies, and other essential facilities for around 30,000 village cooperatives, with hundreds expected to begin operations soon.

Regarding funding, Prabowo said the initiative is supported by Village Funds that have been allocated to rural communities over the past decade.