Jakarta - President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) has tasked the Oil Palm Plantation Fund Management Agency (BPDPKS) with doubling cacao and oil palm production by implementing a replanting program.

This was conveyed by Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs, Airlangga Hartarto, after a limited cabinet meeting on coconut and cacao at the Presidential Palace, Jakarta on Wednesday.

"If we look at it, in terms of the industry, the number of cacao lands declined. Our need for industry development is almost double," he said.

He noted that cacao production in Indonesia has reached around 180 thousand tons and oil palm production around 2.8 million tons, with cacao exports valued at 1.3 billion USD per year and oil palm exports at 1.2 billion USD.

According to Hartarto, currently, the land area for cacao in Indonesia reaches 1.3 million hectares, and for oil palm 3.3 million hectares.

Meanwhile, state revenue from export duties or customs levied on cacao exports has been pegged at around 46.9 million rupiahs (around 2,891 USD) per year.

"We all know that so far, there has been an export duty on cacao, which is mainly aimed at meeting domestic needs, and the result is an export duty of between zero to 15 percent, depending on the price," the minister said.

According to Hartarto, several countries including Ivory Coast and Ghana, are imposing export duties on cacao of around 500 USD per ton.

He further said that there are 31 Indonesian companies currently that are managing the cacao and chocolate industry with a production capacity of 1,240 tons.

He noted that the President has asked that national cacao production be doubled to 400 thousand tons with the help of replanting.

The BPDPKS, he said, is the party that is responsible for replanting cacao and coconut through supplies of seedlings from universities or research centers.

"To this end, the President instructed the need to give additional tasks to the agency to be responsible for replanting and developing cacao and oil palm-based industries," he added.

($1 = 16,235.0000 rupiah)

Source: ANTARA