Erick Thohir Says China Purchased 1 Million Tons Of Indonesian Palm Oil Products: To Promote Agricultural Productivity And Improve Farmers' Welfare

Minister of SOEs, Erick Thohir. (Photo: Doc. Antara)

JAKARTA - Minister of State-Owned Enterprises (BUMN) Erick Thohir said the Chinese government agreed to buy one million tons of palm oil products along with various other agricultural products from Indonesia.

"This will maintain the price of Indonesian palm oil and the price of fresh fruit bunches for oil palm farmers. The government will continue to protect Indonesian farmers and create job opportunities," he said in a written statement, quoted from Antara, Wednesday, July 27.

Erick said Indonesia and China are strategic partners through mutually beneficial cooperation between the two countries. According to him, the step of the Indonesian government to establish trade relations with China is a concrete commitment in advancing agricultural productivity and also the welfare of farmers.

"With this cooperation, Indonesia can increase the certainty of market absorption of farmers' products," said Erick.

He further said that Indonesia can also emulate China's success in optimizing natural resources and a large market for the progress of the country.

According to Erick, Indonesia, which has a wealth of natural resources and a large market, should be able to do the same with the aim of economic growth and increasing job opportunities for the Indonesian people.

"As we know, so far our natural resources and large market have not been optimally used for Indonesia's economic growth, this is what we want to continue to optimize," explained Erick.

In addition to trade cooperation in the agricultural sector, Indonesia has also established cooperation in the electric vehicle industry sector.

Erick said that cooperation with China is not only cooperation in terms of investment, but also includes technology transfer to the completion of the high-speed train which is a joint commitment between Indonesia and China.

"No less important, we also discussed exploring cooperation for the fisheries sector. Incidentally, SOEs are also building an integrated fisheries ecosystem," he said.

In the fisheries ecosystem, state-owned enterprises are collaborating with the Ministry of Cooperatives and SMEs, the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries (KKP), and the Indonesian Traditional Fishermen Association (KNTI).

Erick wants the fishery ecosystem to follow the success of the agricultural ecosystem in the Makmur program.

"BUMN has started to run three initiatives for fishermen, such as funding fishermen by distributing people's business loans (KUR) and PNM in the fisheries sector, supporting fishery facilities by improving fuel management, and creating market access," he concluded.

For your information, President Joko Widodo together with a number of his ministers today made a working visit to China. They held a bilateral meeting with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang at Villa 5, Diaoyutai State Guesthouse, Beijing, China.

Besides Erick, the Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, Minister of Foreign Affairs Retno Marsudi, Minister of State Secretary Pratikno, Minister of Investment Bahlil Lahadalia, and Indonesian Ambassador to Beijing Djauhari Oratmangun were also present.