Indonesia Will Export 490,000 Tons of Fertilizer to Cambodia

Fertilizer illustration (Photo: dock. intermediate)

JAKARTA - Indonesia, through the BUMN Pupuk Indonesia Holding Company (PIHC), will export 490,000 fertilizers to Cambodia. This fertilizer export was carried out after Indonesia received 10,000 tons of rice imports from Cambodia.

Head of the National Food Agency, Arief Prasetyo Adi, said that Indonesia not only receives imported rice from Cambodia, but bilateral cooperation between Indonesia and Cambodia also opens up opportunities for fertilizer exports.

"We don't just import from Cambodia and become net importers, it's not like that. "So we buy rice, at the same time we sell fertilizer to help world food production," he said in an official statement, written Friday, November 3.

Arief said fertilizer exports from Indonesia to Cambodia would be carried out through the state-owned Pupuk Indonesia Holding Company (PIHC). Where  Indonesia is ready to export 490,000 tons of fertilizer.

Furthermore, Arief said that this amount had also been determined after securing national fertilizer needs, including the buffer.

"There are as many as 490,000 tons for export to Cambodia that can now be prepared. "This figure is of course after securing national fertilizer needs including the buffer," he said.

Arief said that referring to data from the General Department of Customs and Excise (GDCE) Cambodia, in the period January to September 2023, the recorded value of bilateral trade between Indonesia and Cambodia reached 808.07 million US dollars.

The trade value figure increased 18.6 percent compared to the same period in 2022 which was recorded at 681.25 million US dollars. Of this amount, Indonesia's exports account for around 95 percent of total trade.

If Indonesia sends its fertilizer to Cambodia, said Arief, it means that Indonesia is contributing to world food progress. According to him, this is Indonesia's happiness.

"Because this is what is called bilateral cooperation, the take and give is here, mutual help is here, for the advancement of world food. "Moreover, Indonesia is one of the countries in the world that produces good fertilizer. We have 5 factories from Aceh to East Kalimantan," he stressed.