JAKARTA - Minister of Agriculture (Mentan) Andi Amran Sulaiman said the national fertilizer industry is getting stronger after exports to Australia, while the price of domestic fertilizer has dropped 20 percent.
Amran said the government recorded great progress in the domestic fertilizer sector through President Prabowo Subianto's policy which lowered the subsidized fertilizer price by 20 percent without additional burden on the State Budget (APBN).
"At a time when the world's geopolitics are heating up, Indonesia, thank God, the price of fertilizer has dropped by 20 percent. Subsidized fertilizer for Indonesian farmers," said Amran on the sidelines of the first export of PT Pupuk Indonesia (Persero) urea products through PT Pupuk Kalimantan Timur to Australia at Bontang Port, East Kalimantan, as stated in Jakarta, Thursday.
He said that the policy was also accompanied by an increase in the volume of subsidized fertilizer by 700 thousand tons to expand farmers' access.
"The volume of fertilizer has increased. This is the happiness of 160 million Indonesian farmers and 115 million rice farmers (including)," said Amran.
According to him, Indonesia has recorded a new milestone in the transformation of the national fertilizer industry through the export of urea fertilizer to Australia with a value of around Rp7 trillion.
At the same time, the government has also succeeded in reducing the price of subsidized fertilizer by 20 percent and increasing the volume of fertilizer for national farmers, marking the strengthening of the fertilizer sector from upstream to downstream.
The release is a new milestone in strengthening cooperation in the fertilizer sector through the government-to-government (G2G) scheme between Indonesia and Australia.
Furthermore, Amran said that the first export released today reached 47,250 tons of urea fertilizer worth around Rp. 600 billion. The export is the initial stage of a commitment of cooperation of 250,000 tons and will continue to be increased to reach 500,000 tons with a total value of around Rp. 7 trillion.
After Australia, the government began directing the strengthening of the national fertilizer export market to a number of other strategic countries such as India, the Philippines, Brazil, and Bangladesh.
At the same place, the Deputy Ambassador of Australia to Indonesia, Gita Kamath, expressed appreciation for the cooperation that has been established between Indonesia and Australia.
"Australia values its relationship with Indonesia. This cooperation reflects the strong friendship and partnership between Australia and Indonesia, not just with PT Pupuk Indonesia," said Gita Kamath.
He added that the cooperation also has direct benefits for strengthening the food security of both countries.
He also admitted that he was proud to receive food security support from Indonesia. Where the fertilizer will help Australian farmers produce commodities such as wheat which is used in Indonesia to make various food products.
"This is a real example of cooperation between Indonesia and Australia that produces mutual benefits," said Gita Kamath.
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