VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) has urged the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KADIN) members to plant sorghum in East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) Province as a joint step in reducing the need for national wheat imports.

The head of state remarked that amid the global food crisis, Indonesia still needed to import wheat. The country was still importing 11 million tons of wheat owing to the inability to grow enough to meet the national demand. However, there were options to intensify the cultivation of commodities that can be mixed with wheat.

"Wheat can be mixed with cassava, sorghum, and sago as well. Hence, I invite all of you to start planting the substitute. For instance, we can start planting sorghum in NTT," he noted at a KADIN leaders' briefing here, Tuesday.

The head of state later remarked that sorghum thrives in NTT at a reasonable cost.

"We can try first. We do not need thousands of hectares. We can start with 10 hectares first. Count, calculate, and plant as much as possible. It can be used for the wheat mixture," he stated.

Jokowi then shared his experience during a recent working visit to Waingapu District in NTT. The president found the soil quality in the region to be relatively marginal and lacked water sources. However, sorghum plants could still thrive under such conditions.

"For the location, NTT could provide hundreds of thousands of hectares. We are waiting for real action from KADIN," he emphasized.

Earlier, the president had instructed to conduct development of land for growing sorghum on up to 154 thousand hectares of land in Waingapu, NTT, as a substitute food commodity for wheat, during an internal meeting related to increasing sorghum production and the wheat policy.

Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs, Airlangga Hartarto, remarked that currently, the planted area of sorghum as of June 2022 had only reached 4,355 hectares and is targeted to grow to 115 thousand hectares by 2023 and 154 thousand hectares by 2024.

In addition to developing sorghum, Jokowi reminded that corn was still one of the food commodities with an opportunity to be developed.

"We can utilize corn for food and livestock feed. The demand is very high, both from the domestic market and foreign market. Our current import of corn is still at 800 thousand tons, which was 3.5 million tons seven years ago. This is our opportunity," he emphasized.

During the event, the president also drew attention to the difficult situation of global economic uncertainty faced by the world and the food crisis.

Minister of State Secretary Pratikno and Minister of Public Works and Public Housing (PUPR) Basuki Hadimuljono also accompanied the president in attending the event. (Antaranews)

The Tourism and Creative Economy Ministry along with start-up company, Surplus Indonesia, launched the Sustainable Food Tourism Program in collaboration with several hotel industries to reduce the level of food waste and loss in Indonesia.

According to the Study of the Ministry of National Development Planning, food waste in Indonesia from 2000 to 2019 amounted to 23-48 million tons per year, or 115-182 kilograms per capita per year.

"We also learn from the former minister of culture and tourism, I Gede Ardika, who always said 'take it according to what we are going to eat, do not leave anything left,'" Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy, Sandiaga Uno, stated at The Weekly Brief with Sandi Uno received here, Tuesday.

He also remarked that Indonesia suffered economic losses of up to Rp551 trillion per year or five percent of the national gross domestic product (GDP) and lost energy content equivalent to 125 million Indonesians and increased carbon emissions due to wasted food.

"This is also ironic because according to the 2021 Global Hunger Index, Indonesia's hunger level is ranked third in Southeast Asia, but we are wasting our food. We have to cooperate with hotels and restaurants to overcome this problem," Uno affirmed.

Hence, his side is collaborating with Surplus Indonesia, The Ascott Limited-Indonesia, Artotel Group, and Swiss-Bellhotel International to reduce the rate of food waste.

CEO and Founder of Surplus Indonesia, Agung Saputra, stated that throwing away food caused financial losses and raised the likelihood of CO2 gas being produced that could increase the rate of greenhouse gas emissions.

Surplus Indonesia will bring solutions from upstream to save overstock food from the three hotel chains involved in the Sustainable Food Tourism Program.

Later, people can enjoy overstocked food from the hotel industry by paying half of the original price of the food.

"Our target in 2023 is to save more than 100 tons of food from the hotel industry that can prevent financial losses of Rp5-10 billion and prevent more than 1,000 CO2 gases from being produced from 100 tons of food," Saputra stated.

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), food waste refers to a decrease in the quality or quantity of food at the retail, food service, and consumer levels. Meanwhile, food loss is wasted food before it reaches the consumer. (Antaranews)

President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) ensures that the trade balance between Indonesia and China will be in surplus in 2022.

The increase cannot be separated from the government's policy of implementing industrial downstreaming, especially for mining commodities.

Industrial downstreaming was able to boost exports and encourage the improvement of trade balance, Jokowi noted.

"I remember our trade balance with China in 2012 was a deficit of US$7.7 billion. In 2021, our trade balance was a deficit of US$2.4 billion because we were able to export steel. This year, I ensured we would have a surplus with China," Jokowi noted in his remarks at the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KADIN) leaders' briefing here, Tuesday.

For instance, the results of the policy to stop exporting raw nickel has led to a leap in trade value for Indonesia, he stated.

According to the president, some five to seven years ago, nickel exports were only valued at US$1.1 billion, or around Rp16 trillion. That figure jumped to US$28 billion, or around Rp306 trillion, in 2021.

"In the end, this nickel (export value) will be around US$35-40 billion, as the derivatives have not been completed," he remarked.

In fact, the head of state recalled that the first time he had implemented the policy to stop exporting raw nickel, he received several complaints, including from KADIN, which stated that Indonesia was not ready with such a policy.

Hence, with the success that was demonstrated, the head of state invited the ranks of KADIN to play an active role in encouraging the downstreaming of the mining industry.

"Please implement this for other raw materials and not only a nickel. If you cannot stand alone, find a partner to join your business. Please ask the head of KADIN, every day, there are people coming from Korea, Japan, China, and Europe showing enthusiasm to invest in Indonesia," Jokowi remarked.

The president believes that in the end, entrepreneurs from these countries will have no choice but to bring their industries to Indonesia. KADIN members should be able to capitalize on this by playing a more active role.

"Join with them because we really need technology. We also need investment, so that there is capital inflow. Things such as this must be done," Jokowi emphasized.

Despite the president having ensured a trade balance surplus between Indonesia and China in 2022, the latest report from Statistics Indonesia (BPS) indicated that Indonesia was still experiencing a deficit.

The latest BPS data states that the Indonesia-China export value during the January-July 2022 period had reached US$34.13 billion, while imports amounted to US$38.27 billion, or a deficit of US$4.14 billion. (Antaranews)

The Immigration Office of Dumai, Riau Province, has deported 12 Bangladeshi nationals to their country for violating the immigration law.



The deportation came nearly 12 days after they were arrested on August 9, 2022, for attempting to cross into Malaysia via an illegal route instead of an immigration checkpoint, head of the Office of the Law and Human Rights Ministry in Riau province, Jahari Sitepu, informed in a press statement released on Monday.



He said the office is also considering banning the 12 Bangladeshi nationals from traveling to Indonesian territory after they are deported.



Indonesia is a sovereign state. Therefore, if foreign nationals violate the regulation, they will be subject to firm measures, he said.



Head of the Dumai Immigration Office, Rejeki Putra Ginting, said that Dumai immigration officers will supervise the deportation of the 12 Bangladeshi nationals via Soekarno-Hatta Airport.



The 12 Bangladeshi nationals left SSK International Airport in Pekanbaru via a Lion Air flight at 5.20 a.m. on Monday.



From Soekarno-Hatta Airport, they will be sent to Bangladesh in two batches due to a limited number of flight tickets to Dhaka, Bangladesh. (Antaranews)