Flying High

I am flying home today after two and a half weeks on a UNIDO looking at the Fisheries sector in Indonesia. Hopefully, the work has ben helpful in identifying the major constraints holding back further export potential ... and identifying opportunities for interventions that should remove or work round these constraints.

Having presented our findings at a final workshop, we are now awaiting specific project ideas in the intervention areas we have identified. We want these ideas to come from the Indonesian government and from Indonesian industry themselves... so there is strong ownership. We will then on subsequent visits work on the feasibility of, and the potential impact of, these ideas before arriving at a final Technical Assistance Programme - hopefully around Jan/Feb 2009 - which should, when implemented, make a real difference.

It has been a rewarding - though tough - experience. Now I need a rest!