Boosting Of The Country's Food And Beverage Industry

Minister of Industry, Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita. (Photo: Ministry of Industry)

JAKARTA - The Ministry of Industry is focused on spurring the development of the food and beverage (mamin) industry so that it continues to have a brilliant performance. Because, so far, the food and beverage industry has become a mainstay sector because it is able to make a large contribution to the national economy, both through increased investment, employment, and the achievement of export value.

"Therefore, the government has determined the food and beverage industry to be one of the five manufacturing sectors whose development is prioritized according to the Making Indonesia 4.0 road map. Through the implementation of industry 4.0, it is hoped that our food and beverage industry will be more competitive in the global arena, "said Minister of Industry Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita in Jakarta, Sunday, January 26.

The Minister of Industry also explained that the food and beverage industry plays an important role in the distribution of business in the country. This is because this strategic sector is dominated by business actors, most of whom are small and medium scale industries (IKM).

"With digital technology as the main support in the production process, we believe that we will be able to increase productivity efficiently and create innovation in the industrial sector," he explained.

In order to achieve this target, especially for the food and beverage industry, the Ministry of Industry together with the Indonesian Food and Beverage Entrepreneurs Association (GAPMMI) are encouraging the development of an innovation center.

With this innovation center, it is hoped that domestic food and beverage industry players, including the IKM sector, will take advantage of the development of modern technology so that the products produced can be competitive in the domestic market and be able to fill export needs.

"Moreover, the government has prepared a super deduction tax incentive for companies wishing to develop innovation," he added.

Based on data from the Ministry of Industry, Indonesian food and beverage products were able to record the highest export value in the manufacturing group, reaching US $ 27.28 billion throughout 2019.

In addition, the food and beverage industry is also the largest depositor of investment value in the January-September 2019 period at IDR 41.43 trillion. Furthermore, the food and beverage industry absorbs the most workers in the manufacturing sector with a total of 4.74 million people as of August 2019.

On the occasion of attending the 2020 World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland, Minister of Industry Agus is actively conducting one on one meetings with potential investors, including in the food industry sector. One of them is with Nestle.

"We met with several industry players, to ensure that those already operating in Indonesia are still comfortable and are expected to increase their investment. In addition, those who will start new investments can be realized immediately, "he explained.

Agus said, there are a number of industrial sectors that are already operating in the country, which will expand their business or expand. "Therefore, we have to guard and ensure that their plans for investment can actually be carried out, and if there are obstacles, they can be quickly resolved," he added.

For example, PT Nestle Indonesia, which in 2019 committed to invest 100 million US dollars to expand its production capacity in the three factories it owns. Through this expansion plan, PT Nestlé's production capacity in Indonesia will increase by 25 percent from 620,000 tons to 775,000 tons per year.

PT Nestle Indonesia is a subsidiary of Nestle SA as a leading food and beverage producer in Vevey, Switzerland. Currently, PT Nestle Indonesia operates three factories in Indonesia, namely a factory in Karawang, West Java to produce Milo chocolate malt, milk powder and Cerelac baby porridge.

Then, the factory in Kejayan, Pasuruan, East Java, among others, is to produce processed milk under the Dancow, BearBrand, Carnation, and Cap Nona brands. Meanwhile, the factory in Panjang, Lampung, is for processing instant coffee and mixed coffee under the Nescafe brand.