Rome – Indonesia and Italy agree to strengthen cooperation and promotion of agriculture. This became a part of the MOU between the Indonesian Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Forestry of the Republic of Italy.
“This collaboration is in cultivation, agricultural mechanization, water resources management, education and training, research, and human resource capacity development,” said Indonesian Minister of Agriculture Syahrul Yasin Limpo in a bilateral meeting with the Italian Minister of Agriculture, Food and Forestry in Rome, Monday, (20) / 01).
In this meeting, Minister of Agriculture Yasin Limpo and Minister Teresa Bellanova discussed a number of bilateral issues, especially related to increasing the value of trade and investment in agriculture between the two countries.
Minister of Agriculture SYL explained the advantages of Indonesian agricultural commodities, such as palm oil, rubber, tropical fruit, tea and spices. He also invited Italian investment in agriculture and animal husbandry in Indonesia.
“I convey to Minister Bellanova, Indonesian products have met the European Union standards in the field of health, and SPS phytosanitary so that it can be exported to European markets, including Italy,” he explained.
Minister of Agriculture also stressed that the Indonesian agricultural sector has implemented Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) and managed sustainably.
Specifically, the two Ministers discussed Indonesia’s palm oil exports. Palm products are known to be used in the food industry and as a bio-diesel material in Italy. According to data on Indonesia’s palm oil exports to Italy amounted to US $ 570.2 million, or 29.7% of Indonesia’s total exports to Italy (amounting to US $ 1.92 billion) and 79.7% of total Indonesian agricultural exports to Italy (amounting to US $ 715.6 million).
Responding to the explanation of the Republic of Indonesia, Minister Bellanova said he could accept the explanation that oil palm plantations play a role in opening employment and poverty alleviation in Indonesia.
The Indonesian Ambassador to Italy, Esti Andayani, assessed that the signing of the MoU would further strengthen relations between the two countries and could encourage the development of the agricultural sector in Indonesia.
According to him, the MoU will facilitate the implementation of agricultural information exchange, training for capacity building and the implementation of joint research by agricultural research institutions in both countries.
Indonesia and Italy have relations that have existed since 1959, and have just celebrated 70 years of diplomatic relations in 2019. Italy is the 3rd largest trading partner for Indonesia among the European Union countries. In the January-November 2019 period, the value of trade between the two countries reached US $ 3.17 billion.