Increase Coffee Exports, RI Actively Sells At International Trade Forums

Deputy Minister of Trade Jerry Sambuaga (Between)

Deputy Minister of Trade (Wamendag) Jerry Sambuaga stated that Indonesia continues to be active in international trade forums to encourage an increase in coffee exports, in order to expand the market and increase the competitiveness of domestic products in the global arena.

"The Ministry of Trade is committed to providing full support to Indonesian exporters, especially coffee, through various programs and initiatives. One of its initiatives is to support Indonesia's active role in international trade forums," the Deputy Minister of Trade quoted Antara as saying.

The Deputy Minister of Trade conveyed this in a business forum in Tangerang, Banten. The business forum carries the theme "Involving the Potential of Indonesian Coffee in the Global Market through Collaboration and Sustainable Export Ecosystems".

Jerry said that Indonesia always plays an active role in international trade forums, both to traditional and non-traditional market countries.

"Based on data from the Ministry of Trade as of September 2024, 38 trade negotiations have been completed, 17 negotiations are still ongoing, and 13 negotiations are being explored," explained the Deputy Minister of Trade.

The Deputy Minister of Trade said traditional export destinations, such as the People's Republic of China (RRT), the United States, and Japan. The non-traditional export destination countries are located in South and Central Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and Eastern Europe.

Regarding exports, the Deputy Minister of Trade emphasized the importance of exporters paying attention to 3K which consists of quantity, quality, and continuity.

He also asked exporters to study export destination country regulations to obtain the quality needed and pay attention to consistency.

"Do not let the first month of export of full containers, export the second month half of containers, and export again the next three months," he explained.

Based on data from the Ministry of Trade, the world's coffee import trend has grown 12 percent in the last five years. This shows global coffee lovers continue to grow with high demand for quality coffee.

In addition to high demand, the Deputy Minister of Trade added that an appropriate strategy is needed to face a number of challenges. These challenges include meeting the demand for specialty, premium, environmentally friendly, and increasingly critical coffee and sustainable practice requires the right strategy.

The Ministry of Trade has rolled out assistance facilities for exporters to support the smooth running of exports, such as certification and the preparation of export plans.

In addition, the government continues to encourage digitalization in the export licensing process to be more efficient, transparent, and easily accessible to all business actors, especially small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

"This is to simplify the export process," said the Deputy Minister of Trade.

Other programs include increasing the capacity of coffee business actors, where the Ministry of Trade cooperates with various parties to organize training and capacity building programs for coffee business actors, especially in improving product quality and marketing strategies.

Next, strengthening the name of Indonesian coffee. For the Deputy Minister of Trade, Indonesian coffee has unique and high quality characteristics.

Thus, explained Jerry, the Ministry of Trade seeks to strengthen Indonesia's coffee brands in the global market through more aggressive promotions at various international exhibitions and trading forums.

The Deputy Minister of Trade also invited all forum participants to take advantage of this opportunity as best they could, actively participate in discussions, and build stronger networks to strengthen Indonesia's coffee exports.

He also emphasized that the business forum, which was attended by 50 coffee business actors, is expected to open wider discussions on various opportunities and challenges faced by Indonesian coffee exporters.

According to him, cooperation with stakeholders can formulate innovative solutions to overcome various obstacles that have hampered Indonesia's coffee exports.

The business forum is one of the flagship programs of the 39th Trade Expo Indonesia (TEI) which will be held on October 9-12 2024 at the Indonesia Convention Exhibition (ICE), Bumi Serpong Damai (BSD), Tangerang, Banten.