JAKARTA - Minister of Industry (Menperin) Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita emphasized that his party is determined to continue to make efforts to deepen the structure of the manufacturing industry in Indonesia, especially those of strategic value such as the cooking oil industry.

"We will seek through primary sector-based downstream policies. This is important considering that downstream is useful in increasing the added value to the national economy, including increasing investment, employment, and the growth of the domestic manufacturing industry," he said in an official statement, quoted Friday, March 11.

According to the Minister of Industry, the palm oil processing industry plays a very important role in making a major contribution to the national economy. He claims this is a tangible manifestation of the success of the downstream policy with the aim of increasing the added value of domestic commodities.

"According to the direction of President Joko Widodo, Indonesia must be able to stop exports of crude palm oil (CPO) so that these commodities can be processed into derivative products with high added value," he said.

Trade Minister 'dizzy' with cooking oil

In the previous editorial report, it was stated that the Minister of Trade (Mendag) Muhammad Lutfi made every effort to ensure that the highest retail price (HET) of cooking oil should not exceed IDR 14,000 per liter. This is then realized through market operations in a number of areas.

In fact, the Minister of Trade must make visits to traditional market centers in various regions to directly ensure the availability of supplies. The situation faced by the Minister of Trade is considered quite strange. The reason is, in addition to controlling HET, he must also try to solve the problem of scarcity of cooking oil.

The Trade Minister himself is aiming for the target of cooking oil prices to gradually recover according to government regulations before the momentum of Ramadan arrives.

“If you look at the graph, actually this price has decreased towards HET. We can observe that when the availability of fit stock of CPO and its olein, then the price will mechanically occur in the market. I hope that at the first opportunity, hopefully it will be over before this Ramadan," said the Minister of Trade M. Lutfi.


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