The Ministry of Trade facilitated the farmers of Astra Welfare Village (DSA) in Malang, East Java Province, to export cowpea beans to the Netherlands worth USD 2 million and investment in production facilities worth USD 300 thousand during the 2023 fiscal year. The export of tolo beans was confirmed by the signing of a memorandum of understanding between DSA with Koas Foods BV domiciled in Amsterdam. The signing was carried out at the Trade Expo Indonesia 2022 held by the Ministry of Trade, in BSD City, Tangerang, October 19th-23rd 2022. The Director General of National Export Development of the Ministry of Trade Didi Sumedi said he was very grateful for this export. He also invited farmers and other business actors to always be export-oriented. Moreover, after the world is faced with a crisis due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it is hoped that village resilience is an opportunity and an important step to move the national economy. "The Astra Welfare Village Program is a turning point to restore the Indonesian economy and is expected to be able to achieve the cross-border trade target," he said in a statement, Tuesday (10/25/2022). He hopes that this cowpea export can continue to be sustainable. "So that more and more farmers can produce well and of course export-oriented," he said.
Astra's CSR manager, Bima Krida Pamungkas, said the export to the Netherlands was a follow-up to the festival exhibition that DSA participated in in the Netherlands some time ago. Apart from cowpeas, at the event facilitated by the Ministry of Trade, other DSA superior products such as peanuts and processed foods were exhibited. "The realization is right this October," said Bima. Bima is grateful for this export because it adds to the long list of DSA's successes in fostering local farmers. "Hopefully we can add more and continue," he said. Until now, according to him, there have been 1,060 DSAs throughout the country. Of that number, there are 290 DSA that produce products for export. "A total of 110 types of products have been exported," he said.
