FGD of UNIED at IPB: High demand for Indonesian Tea Commodities in Thailand, the Philippines, and Papua New Guinea
Bogor Agricultural University (IPB) initiated Focus Group Disscussion (FGD). The theme the meeting was on “Competitiveness, Advantage and Weakness of Agricultural Commodities in Indonesia”, was participated by representatives of the University Network for Indonesia Export Development (UNIED). The FGD was carried out in IPB Campus, Dramaga, Bogor, on Thursday, 14 March 2018.
"A focus group discussion (FGD) is a good way to gather together people from similar backgrounds or experiences to discuss a specific topic of interest. The FGD aims to respond to various issues related to international trade which require all producer countries, including Indonesia to increase the value and volume of its export commodities, to be competitive in the international market," said Rector of IPB, Dr. Arif Satria, SP, M.Si who is also the Chairman of UNIED.
In addition, Indonesia's abundance and variety of commodities is a vital asset to the country's economy (and government revenues) as commodities account for around 60 percent of exports. Indonesia has some of the most diverse aquatic and fisheries resources. Other export commodities include tea, coffee, cocoa, oil palm, mango, mangosteen, guava, coconut, ginger, premium rice, orchids, shrimp, tuna and lobsters.
On that special occasion, Prof. Hermanto Siregar, Head of the Working Group (Pokja) for Food of UNIED stated on the competitiveness, superiority and weakness of 12 agricultural commodities of Indonesia. "For example Indonesian tea commodities are very popular in Cambodia, Papua New Guinea, and the Philippines. Demand for Indonesian tea in these three countries are high. This shows the competitiveness is pretty good. Internally, domestic tea consumption is still low. The price of Indonesian tea is low, Indonesian teas are still finding their identities," said Prof. Hermanto.
Imports have fallen even further as non-tariff barriers and negative market sentiment dampen demand. There are many urgent issues which the Indonesian Government is trying to tackle to keep Indonesia growing. Indonesia is facing another trade barrier in its agricultural commodity exports. So far, these commodities are exported to European countries and the Middle East. Some of Indonesia's constraints include: issues related to SMEs, regulation, primary commodity exports, export taxes, illegal input exports, downstream of export-oriented industries to increase added value, service sector and export infrastructure.
Dr. Arif said that UNIED is a university organization in Indonesia that focuses on the development of policies, research, and learning in the field of export. "This network is facilitated for the first time by the Indonesian Export Financing Institution (Indonesia Eximbank) and has been inaugurated by the Minister of Finance of the Republic of Indonesia (Menkeu RI) and the Ministry of Research, Technology and Higher Education (Menristekdikti) RI. All universities that cooperate with Indonesia Exim-bank are members of UNIED. Currently members of UNIED are state universities of Indonesia, namely: IPB, UI, UGM, USU, UNRI, UNDIP, UNSED, UNAIR, UNRAM, UNUD, and UNHAS, "said Dr. Arif. (Wied)
