Jakarta (VNA) – Indonesia aims toexport 100,000 to 500,000 tonnes of “premium rice” next year, Agriculture Minister Syahrul Yasin Limpo said on December 4.
The move came following President JokoWidodo’s order to ramp up shipment of the country’s staple which have so far been small. The country exported around 200 tonnes of ricein January-November this year, according to data from the statistics agency.
The government will preparefor the rice exports by rolling out support for farmers and businesses inJanuary next year while the export plan will start in March or April with the agriculture ministry preparingfor seeds, land and irrigation.
The Indonesian rice must be competitive to those fromother countries, Syahrul said, adding that the government will study the marketdemand and strive to meet quality standards of importers.
He said both state-owned andprivate enterprises can engage in rice export andexpected that private firms can play a crucial part in improving the export value of the Indonesian rice./.