Purbalingga Chosen As Foreign Exchange Village, LPEI And Ministry Of Industry Ready To Bring Ant Sugar To The World

Photo: VOI/Mary Handayani

JAKARTA - The Indonesian Export Financing Agency (LPEI) is collaborating with the Ministry of Industry (Kemenperin) through the foreign exchange village program. This collaboration aims to increase the capacity of export-oriented small and medium-sized industry players in facing the global market.

The collaboration was marked by the signing between LPEI and the Ministry of Industry, as well as inaugurating the Semut Sugar Cluster Foreign Exchange Village in Bumisari Village, Purrbalingga Regency, Central Java.

LPEI Executive Director Rijani Tirtoso said that this program does not only involve one ministry, but more than one, namely the Ministry of Industry, the Ministry of Finance, which is supported by the Coordinating Ministry for the Economy. "Purbalingga Regency is one of the foreign exchange villages that we are developing. This is one of the events that has become a momentum for improving the regional economy of Purbalingga Regency," he said at the signing of the cooperation as well as the virtual inauguration of the foreign exchange village, Monday, May 30.

For your information, Purbalingga has produced a lot of world-famous export products. One of them is wigs and false eyelashes, including exhaust.

Because of that, Rijani hopes that in the future, with the Foreign Exchange Village program, it can deliver ant sugar or organic coconut sugar produced by Purbalingga to become the next global product.

"As a concrete manifestation of wanting to become a foreign exchange village, of course this is an important first milestone. But we need to make sure we maintain its sustainability in the context of production in contextuality and sustainability. So that we really have a good name in the world," he explained.

There are about 12 villages that were selected as foreign exchange villages for the palm sugar cluster in Purbalingga Regency, which consist of 1,800 farmers. Later they will be monitored by the Ministry of Industry and LPEI and fostered by the Ministry of Finance and the Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs.

"We are also on this occasion providing assistance in the form of a kitchen and ant sugar storage box so that we can maintain the continuity of production with good quality," he said.

Purbalingga Potential

On this occasion, Purbalingga Regent Dyah Hayuning Pratiwi expressed his gratitude because Purbalingga Regency had been chosen as the foreign exchange village for the palm sugar cluster.

He acknowledged that a lot of assistance and assistance had been provided by the Ministry of Industry to small and medium enterprises in Purbalingga Regency. One is KUB Sentral Agro Lestari which is engaged in the palm sugar industry or organic coconut sugar.

"Once again, we represent the government as well as KUB Sentral Agro Lestari. We sincerely thank the Ministry of Industry for appointing Bumisari Village, Pubalingga Regency as the locus for the development of small and medium-sized industries on an export scale," he said.

Dyah hopes that this program can produce maximum results and be able to improve the welfare of coconut sugar farmers in Purbalingga and in other districts. He also hopes that the results of this activity can improve the regional economy as well as the national economy.

Furthermore, Dyah said Purbalingga Regency has tremendous potential. According to him, not only sugar ant but Purbalingga is also famous for exporting wigs and false eyelashes. It even became the second largest producer in the world after Guangzhou, China.

Dyah said Purbalingga is also known for its Purbalingga exhaust potential, this product has also been worldwide. In fact, Mercedes-Benz also uses one of the original Purbalingga exhausts.

"Purbalingga Regency's GDP is indeed dominated by the agricultural sector. In agriculture we have the potential for coconut sugar which is already very global. Because Purbalingga's coconut sugar has been exported to America, Europe and even to Japan and Greece," he explained.

According to Dyah, the demand for palm sugar or organic coconut sugar produced by Purbalingga has experienced a rapidly increasing demand recently.

"This is of course because people abroad are very concerned about what is called a healthy life style," he said.