Airlangga Said Climate Change Affects Indonesian Food Production

JAKARTA - Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto conveyed that the issue of climate change greatly affected Indonesia, especially for food production because there was a significant decline last year, so Indonesia had to import food.

"Food imports last year were 3.6 million, this year the quota can reach 3 million," said Airlangga at the PSN Acceleration and Pre-Evaluation National Working Meeting, Tuesday, May 14.

Airlangga added that in the midst of pressures and unstable global economic conditions, the Indonesian economy is still strong and resilient. In addition, global geopolitical tensions also affect commodity prices.

"We see that global geopolitical tension has not been completed, both in the Ukraine war and also in relation to the situation in Gaza. This tendency certainly changes commodity prices and of course for Indonesia, which is very strategic, namely fluctuations in commodity prices, both food and energy," he explained.

Despite geopolitical pressures and global economic uncertainty, Indonesia's economic growth in the first quarter of 2024 was 5.11 percent stable and far from the recession.

"Our economic growth is one of the highest growth so far and if we look at various rating institutions from the agency, it provides positive assessments," he said.

Airlangga said that from various macroeconomic indicators, Indonesia showed strong and stable conditions such as Indonesia's inflation in April 2024 of 3 percent, lower than other countries. Indonesia only lost to South Korea and Germany whose inflation was 2.9 percent and 2.2 percent, respectively.

Meanwhile, from various surveys, the probability of Indonesia's recession is one of the lowest in the world compared to other countries such as Germany 60 percent, Italy 55 percent, England 40 percent, Australia 32.5 percent, the United States 30 percent Thailand 30 percent, Russia 17.5 percent, South Korea 15 percent, China 12.5 percent, and Indonesia 1.5 percent.

Airlangga said that spatially, Indonesia's economy in the Eastern region experienced higher growth, namely in the provinces of Maluku & Papua 12.15 percent, Sulawesi 6.35 percent, and Kalimantan 6.17 percent.

"Economic growth in the three regions is mainly driven by mining activities, metal industry and IKN development," he said.

According to Airlangga, this growth is in line with what the government is doing to encourage downstreaming.