Success Of G20, Indonesia Concentrates On Food Availability

Coordinating Minister for the Economy Airlangga Hartarto. (Photo: ANTARA)

JAKARTA - Coordinating Minister for the Economy Airlangga Hartarto said Indonesia was concentrating on the availability of domestic food as one of the efforts to make Indonesia's G20 Presidency a success.

"The issue of food security is very important, we must really concentrate on the availability of domestic food. So the key is only three things, namely securing the supply side, food diversification, and efficiency," said Airlangga, quoted by Antara, Wednesday, June 22.

Airlangga said, in order to succeed Indonesia as the G20 Presidency, the Coordinating Ministry for the Economy held several events supporting events from the food and agribusiness sectors, with the main theme "Indonesian Food for a Better World".

Activities that will be carried out include commodity exposure, business meetings, festivals and carnivals, as well as talk shows held in Jakarta, Labuan Bajo, and Magelang, Central Java.

Furthermore, Airlangga said, Indonesia in the future will encourage efficiency and productivity in the agricultural sector, especially since Indonesia has a very large area of agricultural land.

“Indonesia has three times the area of agricultural land compared to Thailand, so of course we are pushing for efficiency and productivity. In the future, for food diversification, we have other superior commodities," he said.

On the same occasion, Deputy for Food and Agribusiness Coordination Musdhalifah Machmud conveyed that the support for the G20 Presidency is expected to provide benefits and maximize the opportunities that exist in this G20 Presidency event to improve the economy of the Indonesian people, especially in the food and agribusiness sectors.

"We really hope that through the support of this activity, it can be a momentum for the birth of various technological innovations, cooperation, investment opportunities, and export markets for the Indonesian food and agribusiness sectors," he said.

The series of activities since the morning began with the Harvest Carnival which showcased various superior Indonesian food products which were paraded in 8 gunungan accompanied by the Red and White Flag-bearing Troops, the Marching Band, and ondel-ondel.

On the same occasion, Head of the National Food Agency Arief Prasetyo Adi conveyed an important collaboration for improving food governance. This is in accordance with what was mandated by President Joko Widodo at the Plenary Cabinet Session.

"We need a good orchestration between Ministries/Institutions, BUMN, Private and regional to meet domestic needs and increase food production for Indonesia's food export potential," he said.