Minister Of Industry Agus Gumiwang Pacu Value Add Palm Oil Industry

Photo: Doc. Antara

Minister of Industry Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita said his party implemented a technology mastery strategy; triple helix collaboration between the government, academics, and industry players; as well as implementation of the collaboration on a business scale, in order to increase the added value of downstream oil palm industry.

"I am sure the added value of this sector will continue to increase," said the Minister of Industry in Bogor, West Java, quoted from Antara, Thursday, August 8.

Agus said that downstream oil palm is one of the industry's priority programs to increase added value to the promotion of the national economy.

His party noted that the economic value of the upstream and downstream oil palm sector has reached IDR 750 trillion, equivalent to 3.5 percent of the national gross domestic product (GDP) in 2023.

Meanwhile, for the types of palm oil derivative products owned by Indonesia, there were 193 types, this figure increased by 150 percent compared to 2010.

Given that Indonesia's potential for the palm oil sector is quite large, the Minister of Industry said that through this technology development and collaboration strategy, his party could innovate from what was previously centered on downstream oil palm, becoming an expansion towards the processing of palm oil biomass.

According to him, this is because so far the processing of palm oil biomass is still neglected, even though this can be done by managing optimal waste in side products in oil palm plantations, so that it can increase the economic value of palm biomass massively, integrated, and sustainably.

The Ministry of Industry conveyed the Roadmap (roadmap) of Sawit Indonesia Gold 2045 which is currently being prepared, focusing on sustainability, so that it can spur this sector in advancing the national economy.

The roadmap is a form of commitment in developing the national palm oil industry.

This is because the sector is recorded as the focus of work for 4.2 million people, support 20.8 million Indonesians, and contribute to foreign exchange of IDR 750 trillion per year, especially from exports of downstream products with high added value.