Jakarta (ANTARA) – President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) has urged Indonesian banks to pay special attention to the potential of the agricultural sector, which has already expanded overseas exports apart from dominating domestic markets.
“Empower the farmers with access to capital, technology innovation, and guidance. I have already spoken with many bank executive directors to give farm (sector) special attention, because this is a chance,” he said from the Presidential Palace in Bogor.
Many Indonesian agricultural commodities have the potential to become superior export products, he noted. Porang, for example, already has a large export market, but requires processing to create value-added products, he said.
This is in accordance with the government’s program to promote the downstream mining policy, President Jokowi said.
“There is a big market we can penetrate, but also that the exports should not be raw, especially in tubers. At least (they should be) in chopped form, or possibly in the form of finished products, or finished porang rice. Our target is downstream mining policy,” he elaborated.
The President also urged regional administrations to develop export-oriented agricultural centers.
Currently, only 293 out of 514 districts and cities in Indonesia have centers for leading export agricultural commodities, he pointed out. The commodities include palm oil, rubber, coffee, and several other commodities that garner the interest of the global market, he added.
“There are still many commodities that have a great potential to be developed, (such as) swallow’s nest, I already mentioned porang, essential oils, which, in recent years, have seen quite a good development. There are also other commodities, (like) jasmine flowers, ornamental plants, edamame, and other horticulture items which, if we really pay attention to, can become good export products,” he said.
On Saturday, President Jokowi also released agricultural commodities from 17 export gates located at airports and ports in Indonesia from the Presidential Palace in Bogor, West Java.
Source: Antara News