RI to Develop Oil Palm Plantations in Tanzania

Jakarta - The Indonesian government is looking into the possibility of investing in oil palm plantations in Tanzania, Agriculture Minister Anton Apriyantono said Tuesday.
"In the era of globalization, we can develop plantations not only at home but also abroad,” he said in commenting on the results of his recent visit to the African country.
He said Tanzania now has around 59 million hectares of oil palm plantations and its climate which is not much different from Indonesia's is worth considering to make investment.
Every hectare of oil palm plantation in Tanzania now can produce 6 tons of palm oil, making opportunities to invest in the sector wide open, he said.
He said his office will soon send an expert team to Tanzania to look into the possibility of investment in the country''s oil palm plantations.
Indonesia and Malaysia currently supply 80 percent of the global need for palm oil, while the remaining 20 percent come from Thailand and India, he said.
Data from the Agriculture Ministry show Indonesia''s crude palm oil (CPO) output reaches 16 million tons per year, 12 million tons of which are exported. (Source: Antara080507)

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North Sumatra Earns US$12.7 Million from Cocoa Exports

Medan, North Sumatra - North Sumatra earned US$12.7 million in foreign exchange from cocoa exports in the first three months of 2007, a local official said.
"The value of the cocoa exports from January to March 2007 increased by about US$3 million from US$9.4 million in a corresponding period last year," Fitra Kurnia, an official of North Sumatra’s industry and trade office, said here on Thursday.
The volume of the cocoa exports also increased to 7,636 tons from last year''s 7,015 tons in the first three month period of 2006, he said.
North Sumatra''s cocoa exports go to several countries such as Malaysia, China, Singapore and Thailand.
The higher cocoa export earnings happened because of an increase in the world cocoa price and in demand for the commodity, he said. (Source: Antara030507)

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Modern VCO Factory to be Built in North Sulawesi

Manado, N Sulawesi - North Sulawesi will have a modern virgin coconut oil (VCO) factory which will be build at an investment value of Rp1.3 billion from provincial budget, an official has said.
"Bid for a contract to build the factory will finish this year and the factory will be operated next year," North Sulawesi Plantation Office head Rene Hosang said here Tuesday.
The proposed factory would use stainless steel machinery in a bid to maintain quality of VCO which was widely known as panacea, he said.
"Operation of the VCO factory will be handed over to a private firm which is required to make contribution to the provincial coffer. The VCO will be produced based on Indonesia''s National Standard (SNI) that it can be exported to many countries," he said.
The proposed VCO factory could be utilized by household business to purify their homemade VCO, Rene said.
North Sulawesi Coconut Farmer Association chairman Marthen Nelwan said the upcoming VCO factory would help improve quality of VCO which was mainly produced as home industry in many North Sulawesi households. (Source:Antara080507)

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Japan Liberalizes Import Duties on Indonesia’s Banana, Manggo

Tokyo - Japan has liberalized import duties on such Indonesian fruits as banana, manggo, and rose-apple as a follow-up to the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) signed with Jakarta in mid April 2007, an official said.
In the sixth round of EPA negotiations, Japan agreed to buy Indonesian fruits and assist Jakarta in overcoming fruit flies, Agricultural Attache at the Indonesian embassy in Japan, Pudjiatmoko, said here Tuesday.
He said Indonesian fruit producers must be able to benefit from the agreement by supplying quality fruits which meet the Japanese quality standards.
Banana was on the great demand in Japan, overtaking mandarin apple and orange which for the past few years dominated the Japanese public''s appetite, he said.
"The results of a recent study made in Japan show demand for apples fell, while demand for banana was on the increase," he said.
The increase in banana consumption based on the study conducted in 2004 was believed to have been caused by the low prices of banana, he said.
Japan is imposing tight regulations on imported fruits, particularly to prevent plant pests from attacking the local fruits. (Source:Antara010507)

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Indonesia to Seek Japan’s Confirmation on EPA Settlement

Jakarta - Indonesia will seek Japan''s confirmation regarding the settlement of the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with that country, trade minister Mari Elka Pangestu said here on Wednesday.
"We will go to Japan to ask for a confirmation on the follow-up of the EPA. We are now still waiting for information from the Japanese ministers of trade, economy and industry and foreign affairs on our planned bilateral meetings," she said.
She said the negotiations on the agreement had now reached the final stage. "We are trying to encourage an early completion of the negotiations and inquire about the schedule and time frame for the two countries'' heads of state to sign the agreement," she said.
Mari plans to leave for Japan on May 16 and later proceed to the US to promote investment.
In the negotiations in March, according to chief negotiator Halida Miljani, the two sides still had yet to reach agreement on the substance of the cooperation.
"We wish the agreement would benefit both sides," she said here some time ago.
Indonesia wished Japan would provide help not only in the form of capacity in building of manufacturing centers to enable the country to also supply components of Japanese standard quality toits automotive, engineering and electronic industries.
"If Indonesia can do this, the benefit would be enormous. The EPA would support industrial development," she said.
Halida admitted that the manufacturing centers could not be materialized in the short-run because the EPA was indeed designed for a long-term partnership.
She also admitted that the funds from Japan for this purpose is very limited, while the building of the center could not fully rely on the official development assistance. In addition, she said, Japan could not force its industries also to give other kinds of help in addition to technical assistance.
In the negotiations on liberalization of trade of goods, Indonesia agreed to abolish import duty on raw materials for the production of components to be used in Japanese companies in Indonesia.
Halida said the mechanism and criteria for the agreement were still being discussed.
Earlier, Indonesia has scrapped steel products for automotive, electronic and engineering industries from the list of goods enjoying an import duty exemption.
The agreement on the import duty exemption was reached on the condition that Japan would help Indonesia in raising the capacity of its steel component industry. "We will continue discussing it to reach agreement," she said. (Source: Antara100507)

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