China Attracted To Southeast Sulawesi Pepper Seeds

JAKARTA - The pepper seed spice commodity from Southeast Sulawesi Province penetrates the global market, namely to China.

"During 2020, Southeast Sulawesi entrepreneurs have succeeded in exporting 27 tonnes of pepper seeds to China directly from Kendari," said the Head of the Department of Industry and Trade, Sultra, Sitti Saleha, who was contacted in Kendari, quoted from Antara, Monday, January 18.

He said the export value of peppercorns to the Bamboo Curtain country was IDR 425 million. The pepper commodity, he said, is one of Southeast Sulawesi's leading spices, which has long been developed by farmers in almost all districts and cities in Southeast Sulawesi.

"So far, many of our pepper production has become part of exports from Indonesia, but it is not recorded as a Southeast Sulawesi export, because it is not exported directly from Southeast Sulawesi," he said.

Pepper production from Southeast Sulawesi so far, he said, was only between islands to Makassar, Surabaya and Jakarta, so that when it was exported it was recorded as an export commodity for the region.

It is said, in 2020, the potential for export of pepper from Southeast Sulawesi will be as much as 4,821 tonnes, but most of this production is still between islands in several cities in Indonesia.

"We should be grateful at this time because we already have an export port. So that currently Southeast Sulawesi agricultural commodities can be exported directly from Kendari to various world markets," he said.

Therefore, Sitti hopes that entrepreneurs can directly export commodities from Southeast Sulawesi from Kendari to destination countries.

"We are ready to provide convenience in terms of administrative documents," he said.