Meet Jokowi, Minister Of Industry Agus Initiates The Establishment Of Kakao And Kelapa Institutions

Minister of Industry Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita (Photo: dock. Antara)

JAKARTA - The Ministry of Industry initiated cocoa and coconut institutions to ensure the availability of industrial raw materials, maintain the continuity of industry and competitiveness and increase added value.

Related to this, President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) has held a limited meeting regarding the Kakao and Kelapa Fund Management Agency in Jakarta, on Wednesday, July 10.

The meeting decided that the management of cocoa and coconut was delegated to the Palm Oil Plantation Fund Management Agency (BPDPKS) by forming two new deputies, namely Deputy Kakao and Deputy Kelapa.

Then, fund raising is still carried out through an export levy scheme which is managed directly by BPDPKS.

"BPDPKS already has large funds that can be used for the cocoa and coconut sectors, so that it can run immediately," said Minister of Industry (Menperin) Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita explaining the results of the limited meeting quoted from her written statement, Thursday, July 11.

It is known that Indonesia was ranked third in cocoa seed producing countries in 2015, but is currently ranked seventh. In terms of industry, Indonesia has so far become one of the producers and exporters of the four processed cocoa products in the world in 2023

Meanwhile, during the 2015-2023 period, there was a decrease in Indonesian cocoa production by 8.3 percent per year and there was an increase in imports from 239,377 tons to 276,683 tons.

The growth of the cocoa processing industry has not been accompanied by the availability of raw materials which has caused 9 out of 20 companies to stop operating. The cocoa processing industry currently has to import 62 percent of the raw materials for cocoa beans.

Meanwhile, downstream coconut is still limited because the utilization of coconut raw materials is not optimal and currently there is still spherical coconut exported. This resulted in the utilization of the coconut processing industry of around 55 percent.

On the other hand, Indonesia has the potential to meet global needs. Thus, there is still a very large room for increasing coconut downstream.

"It is hoped that the institutions of cocoa and coconut will have a positive impact on farmers and industry," he said.

The benefits for farmers are increasing productivity through intensification and land rejuvenation, increasing processed products and ensuring certainty of crop absorption.

Meanwhile, the benefits for the industry are an increase in added value and exports as well as diversification of derivative products with high added value.