CAN Seaweed be Indonesia's Next Big Industry?

In his October 2014 inaugural speech, President Joko Widodo said, "In order to build Indonesia into a great nation, prosperous and peaceful, we need the spirit and courage to face the waves." His words were intended to jumpstart a shift in the country's political and economic agenda. The follow-through on that vision has focused on building ports and developing Indonesia's fishing industries. But what of the wealth of vegetation from the sea?

Seaweed, once dehydrated and pulverized, appears in many forms in modern life: in facial cream, as meat tenderizer, in the laboratory as agar-growing media, in medical capsules, in paper, in plywood and even as lubricant on oil drilling platforms. Furthermore, the entry price to this seaweed bonanza is not high. With just a pile of seaweed cuttings, some recycled plastic bottles and a fishing line, anyone along Indonesia's nearly 55,000-kilometer-long coastline can enter the business.