Deputy Minister of Trade (Wamendag) Jerry Sambuaga said continuous efforts were needed so that Indonesia became a major player in the trade and industry of Porang (konjac). According to him, the Porang market is very large and Indonesia has not been included as the top five exporters in the world. Even though statistically, Indonesian porang exports are very large, but they have to go through other countries before reaching consumer countries. "For the first semester of 2021, our porang exports have reached 14.8 thousand tons. This figure is a sharp increase of 160 percent compared to the first semester in 2019 which reached 5.7 thousand tons," said the Vice Minister of Trade to reporters, Saturday (17/7/2021).
The main porang importing countries in the world include East Asia and Europe. In East Asia, porang is an ingredient in food, cosmetics and industry. So far, Indonesia's exports are usually in the form of chips, which are the raw materials for the supply of the industry. Jerry Sambuaga wants the porang trade to be more efficient in terms of transportation, trade and financial support. This is so that porang products will be more competitive and producers and porang farmers will be more prosperous. “Friends in production are trying to increase production and do downstreaming. The Ministry of Agriculture, for example, is pushing for the expansion of porang land to reach 100 thousand tons. The Ministry of Industry must also have a plan for downstreaming Indonesian porang products so that the added value will be even greater. For this reason, the Ministry of Trade will support in terms of trade access, promotion, trade negotiations and others," said Jerry.
The Vice Minister of Trade sees that the support from the Ministry of Trade in market access can be done in two ways, namely conducting intensive business matching and through trade diplomacy in trade agreements. Especially the European market, Jerry will fight for Indonesian porang to expand their penetration in markets such as Germany and Italy. He saw an opportunity to take advantage of the Indonesia-European Union CEPA discussion as a means for that. “Basically, we can use all the trade agreements to expand and increase the trading capacity of all Indonesian products, including Porang and that is the goal. I hope that our porang products can be more successful and can meet the quality and quantity expected by the destination countries,” said the Vice Minister of Trade.
Porang itself has been a hit for the past few years because of its extraordinary potential. Many porang farmers enjoy abundant economic benefits from cultivating this previously considered wild plant. The expansion of planting land is expected to be accompanied by an increase in the quality of production and better logistics and trade management. To that end, the Ministry of Trade continues to coordinate with various ministries and institutions. “The actors and stakeholders directly from the porang industry and trade are certainly the spearheads. Farmers, processing factory owners, traders, exporters and banks should all be supported by the relevant ministries and agencies. The Ministry of Trade is ready to carry out the facilitation and support,” concluded Jerry.
Source: https://www.liputan6.com/bisnis/read/4609370/pelaung-baru-ekspor-porang-indonesia-naik-160-persen
