Jokowi Bans Rice Imports, Member Of Commission IV: It Is The Right Policy

Rice in Bulog / Antara

JAKARTA - Member of Commission IV of the House of Representatives (DPR) from the PPP Party faction, Ema Umiyyatul Chusnah, said that the ban on rice imports by President Joko Widodo was a form of the government listening to the aspirations of the people.

"Not importing rice until June 2021 is the right policy, because currently there is a big harvest in a number of areas", he said, in Jakarta, Saturday, March 27.

In next June, Ema said, before submitting the import plan again, the government needs to evaluate first whether imports are still needed or not.

"For PPP Party, the absorption of farmer's grain and raising the price according to the cost of goods sold (HPP) which has been set at IDR 4.200 per kilogram (Kg) is very important so that farmers can be prosperous, especially when it is still in a COVID-19 pandemic situation", he said.

In addition, Ema also hopes that the government will continue to cancel the MoUs with Thailand and Vietnam, because the rice stock balance is a surplus of 12 million tons.

"The Commission IV DPR RI has repeatedly held meetings with the Ministry of Agriculture, domestic rice stocks are still safe. It remains only for the government to focus on preparing safe staple food stocks before facing the months of Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr", he said.

For your information, the governments of Indonesia and Thailand will soon sign a rice import agreement of 1 million tonnes by the end of March 2021. The memorandum of understanding of 1 million tonnes a year is an inter-governmental agreement.

The contents of this agreement are related to the supply of rice from Thailand to Indonesia, covering no more than 1 million tons of white rice with a crack content of 15-25 percent (medium rice).

Thailand previously sold a total of 925.000 tonnes of rice under a G2G contract to Indonesia under a previous agreement from 2012 to 2016.

However, for the past five years, there has been no G2G rice agreement between Thailand and Indonesia. This was triggered by the policy of self-sufficiency in rice and the promotion of domestic rice production, which was intensively carried out by the Republic of Indonesia.

Even so, Indonesia still faces a shortage of domestic rice supply for several years due to natural disasters. The pandemic also prompted Indonesia to import more rice to meet domestic needs and stabilize domestic rice prices.

Previously, President Joko Widodo admitted that there was a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the governments of Indonesia and Thailand and Vietnam regarding rice procurement.

Jokowi said that the move was taken to anticipate stock shortages in the midst of an uncertain pandemic situation.

"I emphasize that there is indeed an MoU with Thailand and Vietnam. That is just a precaution given the pandemic situation which is full of uncertainty", Jokowi said via the Presidential Secretariat YouTube broadcast, Friday, March 26.