REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, MANADO -- Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Minister Susi Pudjiastuti inaugurated the Coral Triangle Initiative (CTI) Information and Learning Center here on Tuesday.

"The inauguration of the CTI building aims to support sovereignty in the maritime field and the realization of Indonesia as the home of coral reefs," Minister Pudjiastuti remarked.

The new building also houses the Regional Secretariat of the Coral Triangle Initiative-Coral Reefs, Fisheries and Food Security (CTI-CFF).

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Starting next year, the CTI-CFF Regional Secretariat will officially commence its operations in the building, according to Syarief Widjaja, the secretary general and concurrently director general for maritime spatial management of the maritime affairs and fisheries ministry.

The 2,142-square-meter large building will function as the CTI regional secretariat, training center, research center, reef museum, library, a meeting hall, a convention hall, and office rooms for the CTI member nations, partners, and the ministry.

The 42-meter-high building equipped with a huge aquarium and an exhibition room will also be used as a center of excellence for coral reef diversity.

Indonesia has spent US$55 million for developing the CTI building.

"This building is also a center for coordination, facilitation, and collaboration among the six member states and partners of the CTI-CFF," he explained.

The building's construction was planned in 2010, and the ceremony of laying its first cornerstone was held in January 2012.

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