Government Needs to Partner with Global Industry Players to Build National Protein Industry

JAKARTA - Economist and Policy and Program Director of the Prasasti Center for Policy Studies (Prasasti), Piter Abdullah, assessed that the government needs to strengthen partnerships with global protein industry players as part of a strategy to build an integrated, competitive, and sustainable national protein industry.

According to Piter, the development of the protein industry is not enough to rely solely on increased production, but requires an ecosystem supported by investment, technology, distribution, and strong coordination between the government and business actors.

"I think we should work together with global protein industry players. That's part of the orchestration. They have shown how the protein industry can grow through efficient mass production," said Piter in Jakarta, Wednesday, August 5, 2026.

He explained that the main challenge of national protein provision has not been a matter of production, but rather the lack of an orchestration of policies that can unite all the protein supply chain from upstream to downstream.

"For some protein sources such as beef, the supply is still lacking. However, protein sources do not only come from meat. In many areas, especially in eastern Indonesia, the potential for fish is actually very abundant," he said.

According to him, the fundamental problem lies in the fact that the distribution system is not optimal and there is no policy that can integrate production, logistics, investment, and market access comprehensively.

"The problem is that we don't have an adequate distribution system and we don't have a policy that really supports this distribution. In other words, we don't have good orchestration," he said.

Piter explained that orchestration is not merely coordination between ministries, but the coordination of all instruments that affect the availability of national proteins. Government policies, the development of logistics infrastructure, the development of production centers, investment, distribution, and market access must be designed as a single unit so that protein supplies can reach the community more evenly.

According to him, this approach is also important to answer various structural challenges that are still faced by protein business actors in the country. Many farmers, fishermen, cooperatives, and small-scale business actors still face limitations in access to financing, quality production facilities, modern technology, and wider marketing networks so that productivity and competitiveness have not developed optimally.

In this context, partnerships with global protein industry players are considered to be a catalyst for accelerating the development of the national protein industry. The presence of strategic partners is expected not only to bring investment, but also to accelerate technology transfer, human resource capacity building, strengthening production standards, and opening access to international market networks that ultimately can increase the competitiveness of national business actors.

Piter gave an example of the success of the national chicken industry as proof that investment, technological innovation, and industrial development carried out sustainably are able to expand public access to protein sources.

"Chicken was a relatively expensive food. Now chicken has become a source of protein that is very accessible to the public. That happened because of investment, technology, and the support of large companies in the poultry sector," he said.

According to him, this experience can serve as a reference in developing other protein commodities. Collaboration with protein industry players who have long experience in building a business ecosystem can accelerate the development of the livestock, fisheries, and other protein subsectors through strengthening investment, innovation, and supply chain efficiency.

However, Piter emphasized that the involvement of global-scale industry players should not reduce the role of the government as a policy director. The government must still be an orchestrator who ensures that all actors, from large companies, farmers, fishermen, cooperatives, to distribution actors, have the opportunity to develop fairly.

"If a large company also becomes an orchestrator, there is a risk that smaller actors will not be protected. Therefore, the government must be a regulator and protector so that the relationship between large and small companies is truly mutually beneficial," he said.

Piter added that the collaborative approach would result in a stronger national protein ecosystem compared to the sectoral approach that runs on its own.

"Without orchestration, policies will only stop as sectoral directions and not really connected in the field. In fact, what is needed is synergy from upstream to downstream," he said.

According to him, if the government is able to build a collaborative direction with global protein industry players while strengthening its role as an orchestrator, the development of the national protein industry will not only strengthen food security, but also encourage investment, create jobs, increase the added value of the livestock and fisheries sector, and expand access to nutritious protein sources at affordable prices.

"The ultimate goal is not only to increase production, but to build a strong, inclusive, and sustainable national protein industry through targeted collaboration between the government, the business world, and all actors in the supply chain," said Pite.