Realizing Bilateral Cooperation, Cambodia Ready To Send 10,000 Tons Of Rice To Indonesia

Illustration (Photo: Doc. Antara)

JAKARTA Indonesia imports 10,000 tons of rice from Cambodia. However, it has only entered the country through Tanjung Emas Port as much as 3,500 tons.

This rice supply from Cambodia was brought in to strengthen Government Food Reserves (CPP).

Head of the National Food Agency (NFA) Arief Prasetyo Adi said this import was one of the results of President Joko Widodo's meeting with Cambodian Prime Minister (PM) Hun Manet on September 4 who understood each other about food security.

This is the first time Cambodia has delivered its rice after the MoU has been around for 11 years. 11 years no one has been able to execute the Mou and not a single grain of rice has entered. In fact, we can do this and it will end up happening today. Now this Cambodian rice can come in and the rice is very good," he said in an official statement, Friday, November 3.

Arief said, a total of 140 containers containing 25 tons of rice per container.

The total number is 3,500 tons and checking samples have been taken by the Indonesian Quarantine Agency to ensure the safety and quality aspects of the food.

"Today (Tuesday) is the first day rice stocks from Cambodia enter Indonesia. The target is 10,000 tons and today 3,500 tons have arrived. Then we will talk again with Cambodia," he said.

Arief emphasized that the imported rice coming from Cambodia is the rice stock for CPP that must be owned by Perum Bulog.

Bearing in mind, President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) has also asked for rice food assistance for the community to continue and rice stocks in Bulog at the end of the year will be at least 1 million tons.

Despite importing, Arief said that number one is the availability of Indonesian food, which must prioritize domestic production.

However, when the National Food Agency sees and calculates this year's food balance, it does require procurement from abroad, and that must be done.

"We emphasize that our priority number one is of course domestic production. But at a time when we really need stock supply from foreign procurement, we do this," he said.

Arief said the arrival of rice stocks from abroad was a government step that had been carefully and comprehensively considered.

He ensured that its use was only intended for government programs in the context of market intervention and assistance to the community.

"We are currently building a national food ecosystem. The production center areas will be ensured by the Minister of Agriculture, starting from seed preparation, fertilizer, irrigation, reservoirs, and so on," he said.