Increase The Capacity Of Salt Farmers In Kusamba Foreign Exchange Village, LPEI Collaborates With Nusa Gastromy Foundation

JAKARTA - The Indonesian Export Financing Agency (LPEI)/ Indonesia Eximbank collaborated with Chef Ragil from the Nusa Gastromy Foundation as resource persons in a training consisting of salt farmers and members of the Mina Segara Dana LEPP Cooperative on December 7, 2021, in Kusamba Village, Klungkung Regency, Bali.

In collaboration with the Food Security and Fisheries Service of Klungkung Regency, this training was also attended by the Head of the Regional Office of the Directorate General of State Assets (DJKN) Bali and Nusa Tenggara Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Indonesia, Head of the Food Security and Fisheries Service of Klungkung Regency, Chairperson, and management of the Mina Segara LEPP Cooperative.

This activity is a continuation of the LPEI synergy with the Directorate General of State Assets (DJKN) of the Indonesian Ministry of Finance and the Klungkung Regency Government which has inaugurated Klungkung Regency as the 26th Foreign Exchange Village on November 6, 2021, and witnessed by the Governor of Bali Province, Wayan Koster.

"The assistance through the Foreign Exchange Village Program aims to encourage cooperatives and salt farmers in Kusamba Village to become exporters through a series of assistance based on the needs of cooperatives and farmers. This program helps prepare prospective exporters to meet global market demand according to export product standards, while increasing capacity from the management side. exports and production techniques," said Head of the LPEI Consulting Services Division, R.Gerald Setiawan Grisanto in a written statement, Wednesday, December 22.

Gerald explained the form of programs that will be given to farmers and cooperative members in the Kusamba Salt Foreign Exchange Village, including training on the production of Bali sea salt rub, branding and digitalization aspects, participating in trade fairs, business matching, and also assisting in product certification.

"By participating in this program, cooperatives and farmers can create jobs, improve family welfare and help improve the local economy," he said.

LPEI as the Special Mission Vehicle (SMV) of the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Indonesia in accordance with its mandate to accelerate the increase in national exports, has succeeded in building the potential of the region to become a foreign exchange earner through the Foreign Exchange Village Program.

This program started in 2019 starting from the Cocoa Foreign Exchange Village Cluster in Bali. Jembrana Regency became the first Foreign Exchange Village with a leading commodity in the form of fermented cocoa beans, then there was the Handicraft Foreign Exchange Village in Bantul, Yogyakarta with its unique and environmentally friendly handicraft products. Currently, the two foreign exchange villages have been able to export sustainably to European countries.

From 2021 to November, LPEI or Indonesia Eximbank has launched the Foreign Exchange Village program in West Java, East Java, and Bali, namely the Subang Coffee Foreign Exchange Village, Ijen Banyuwangi Foreign Exchange Agrotourism Village, Gresik Weaving Foreign Exchange Village, Kusamba Salt Foreign Exchange Village and Seaweed Foreign Exchange Village Sidoarjo. The total beneficiaries of this program have reached 2,894 farmers/weavers/craftsmen and will continue to increase in the future.

Opportunities are wide open for Indonesian commodities and products to compete in the global market through the Foreign Exchange Village Program so as to be able to improve the regional economy, welfare for farmers/business actors and also gender equality. The motto #LokalyangMendunia through the Foreign Exchange Village Program can make Indonesian products and export activities stronger to reach the world.