Bappenas says RI has big product potential but still ‘sleeping’

Jakarta –

The Ministry of National Development Planning (PPN) / National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas) said that the government wants to develop coconuts because they are very competitive in the international market. The export potential of coconuts alone is known to reach IDR 89.8 trillion.

This value is a combination of the export potential of several parts of coconuts, for example coconut water at US$ 5.25 billion, equivalent to IDR 79.4 trillion, coconut fiber at US$ 320 million, equivalent to IDR 4.8 trillion, and a nut shell at the US $ 373 million, equal to IDR 5. 6 trillion. So the amount of coconut that could reach IDR 89.8 trillion.

Expert staff told the Minister of National Development Planning for Key Sector Development and Infrastructure, Leonardo AA Teguh Sambodo, that coconut is a ‘sleeping giant’ commodity that wants to be awakened because of its potential big Because the ability to export has been lost until now.

“That is a wasted potential, so by awakening this sleeping giant, we really want to take advantage of its potential,” he said in a press release in Cikini district, Central Jakarta , Friday (27/9/2024).

Currently, there is no coconut trading system, so there are few recorded exports of round coconuts. It is known that exports of round coconuts reached 756.98 million with the tax value received by the state zero, aka 0%.

“The export of round coconuts in certain seasons disturbs the stability of supply for existing industries,” he said.

As a result of unregulated coconut exports, the domestic industry that produces this commodity has been disrupted. For example, the production of nata de coco.

At the same time, there is a huge demand for the export of round coconuts to China and America for Christmas preparations. This is why Indonesia’s domestic nata de coco industry is being disrupted because the raw material is mostly extracted raw.

“So they have been preparing for Christmas for a long time, and they have imported a lot of round coconuts from Indonesia, and this is a cause for concern,” he said.

That is why the government wants to regulate the coconut trading system so that domestic potential is not lost. Before regulating the export of coconut, Indonesia also needs to increase domestic coconut production.

In addition, in the future to control illegal exports, the government plans to regulate taxes on coconut exports. In addition, a comprehensive investigation will be conducted regarding data on illegal coconut exports.

“To control the export of round coconuts, there are two ways, of course, firstly, this tax is the easiest way and secondly, there is a lot of leakage of illegal exports. Because there are many islands in Indonesia, even with a small boat you can. export coconuts,” he said.

The government is also considering the option of stopping coconut exports if illegal leakages abroad are very high.

“In the future, if a decision is made to stop it, like stopping nickel, this could be an option. Although we also see aspects of Indonesia’s situation with the export of round coconuts, to of course we want if it is stopped, companies that were previously processed coconuts abroad can come to Indonesia,” he concluded.

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