JAKARTA - Chairman of the Association of Indonesian Bird's Nest Entrepreneurs (PPSBI) Boedi Mranata assessed that swallow's nest exports have the potential to increase sharply and be able to provide a large enough foreign exchange, if supported by registered exporter regulations.
According to Boedi, China is currently the largest importer of swallow's nest with a total of 262 tonnes or Rp25 million per tonne. However, if exported to other countries, the commodity is only valued at around Rp. 600,000 per tonne because it does not go through a registered exporter.
"Exports to China are the most clearly regulated compared to other countries. If we dig with clear rules, it is possible that the price of swallow's nests could explode and our foreign exchange could rise," said Boedi as quoted by Antara, Friday, January 22.
Boedi explained that for a long time, Indonesia's swallow's nest had been the target of other countries, especially China. With the openness of the global market as it is now making swallow's nest a mainstay for foreign exchange.
"I think with the evaluation which should be improved in the export of swallow's nest, our value could reach hundreds of trillions," he said.
Minister of Agriculture Syahrul (Mentan) Yasin Limpo assessed that the export potential of swallow's nest will continue to show a significant increase. This is because swallow's nest is believed to have health benefits.
Based on IQFAST data from the Agricultural Quarantine Agency (Barantan), during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 the number of exports of swallow's nest reached 1,155 tons with a value of IDR 28.9 trillion
This number increased 2.13 percent from the 2019 achievement of only 1,131 tons or IDR 28.3 trillion. In addition, he said, swallow nests can live well with a well-maintained ecosystem, ranging from forests, seas and rivers as producers of natural swallow feed.
Meanwhile, the Head of the Agriculture Quarantine Agency of the Ministry of Agriculture, Ali Jamil, said that his party already has a testing laboratory that has been recognized by trading partner countries.
In addition to accelerating services, his party also continues to innovate quarantine technology to facilitate agriculture in international trade.
According to him, the participation and support of the local agriculture agency, breeders and the community in maintaining the sustainability of the swallow's nest commodity is very necessary.
"Therefore, we must jointly protect and report if poultry is trafficked, especially to quarantine officers so that swallow nests can still contribute to national economic recovery," said Ali Jamil.
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