“North Maluku has extraordinary potential as an epicenter for the development of plantation commodities, spices such as nutmeg and cloves, as well as coconuts, commodities that have long made eastern Indonesia a node in world trade,” he noted on Tuesday.
At the North Maluku Province coordination meeting on plantation downstreaming, he stated that his ministry is determined to restore this glory within a modern economic framework through downstreaming and industrializing plantations.
In line with President Prabowo Subianto’s directive, the government has prepared a financing scheme involving an investment of Rp371 trillion (US$21 billion) to strengthen downstreaming in the agricultural sector, particularly the strategic plantation subsector, across Indonesia.
Sulaiman said the funding will be prioritized for regions with strong potential for developing downstreaming and increasing value-added production.
As a concrete step, the Ministry is increasing support for coconut planting in North Maluku from 10,000 to 15,000 hectares. This program is part of the development of 14 strategic plantation commodities, which are estimated to absorb 8.6 million workers in various regions.
“We provide the seeds, tools, and end-to-end mentoring. The aim is for people to gain prosperity from their own land,” the minister emphasized.
On the occasion, he also stressed the importance of downstreaming plantation commodities such as coconuts and spices.
According to him, the current value of Indonesian coconut exports reaches Rp24 trillion (US$1.4 billion). If processed into derivative products such as coconut milk, coconut oil, and coconut flour, the value could increase by around a hundredfold through value-added processing.
Sulaiman also pushed for the development of nutmeg and clove processing factories to prevent other countries from reaping the added value.
Meanwhile, North Maluku Governor Sherly Tjoanda thanked Minister Sulaiman for his commitment to encouraging the development of downstream plantations in the region.
“Moving forward, we will optimize idle land for additional factories to help communities improve the quality of their produce, increase productivity, and enhance the welfare of farmers,” she remarked.
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Translator: Abdul Fatah, Resinta Sulistiyandari
Editor: M Razi Rahman
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