VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

The domestic food and beverage industry will grow eight percent at the end of 2019, falling short of the target of nine percent, the Industry Ministry has stated in its projections for the year. "I hope the growth will still be above eight percent. It seems difficult to reach nine percent, more so because it is still affected by (the growth) in the first semester of 2019," Director General of Agro-Industry of the Industry Ministry Abdul Rochim said in Jakarta Monday.

The food and beverage industry only grew 7.4 percent in the first semester of 2019, well below the target of nine percent due to the general elections, he said.

"As we know there were legislative and presidential elections in the first semester so investors put their plans on hold. They still wanted to wait and see. It began to show significant growth only after the first semester," he said.

"The growth rose significantly in the third quarter of 2019, reaching 8.33 percent. Hopefully, it will continue to grow in the fourth quarter of 2019," he said.

Cumulatively, the food and beverage industry grew 7.72 percent until the third quarter of 2019.

"In the fourth quarter there will be Christmas and New Year Eve celebrations so they will likely push up the growth," he said. (ANTARA)