BANDUNG – As a response to the problem of palm oil scarcity that had been increasingly causing ire in our society, the task force for regional economic recovery (PED) held recently a webinar titled “Collaboration and Integration of Palm Oil Supply Chain” which was addressed by experts of various backgrounds.
This issue has become more important as it coincides with the government’s efforts to revive the regional economy that has been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly through the improvement of the commodity supply chain.
The speakers who addressed the public discussion are:
– Dr. Eng Nur Budi Mulyono as the Leader of Norhed Team from SBM ITB,
– Prof. Togar M. Simatupang as a SBM ITB Professor,
– Setiawan Wangsaatmaja as West Java Provincial Secretary,
– Ipong Witono as the Chief on Duty of the West Java Regional Economic Recovery and Transformation Committee (KPED),
– Oke Nurwan as the Director General of Domestic Trade at the Ministry of Trade,
– Aldo Winaya as the head of West Java PTT KPED/SCC Division,
– Prof. Ina Winaya as economic expert from UNPAD’s faculty of economy,
– Yusmar Anggadinata as Director of LAPI ITB,
– Isy Karim as Director of Basic Goods and Important Goods, Ministry of Trade,
– Yudi Hartanto as Head of West Java Aprindo DPD,
– Andre Manuhutu as VP of Trade and Manufacture of PT RNI.
Four panelists–Andre Manuhutu, Yudi Hartanto, Yusmar Anggaditana, and Togar Simatupang, stated in their presentations that the scarcity of this particular consumer goods can be resolved by collaboration between the government, business players, academics, and the community.
“The option is clear, revise the prevailing regulations, establish an integrated digital service system, intensify the distribution from the assigned path such as SOEs to solve this problem,” said Togar Simatupang in his presentation.
The discussion session gave an indication that the government needs to be more serious in addressing this issue and not limit their effort to deal with this short-term crisis, but should also revamp the palm oil logistic system in the long term. A special task force should be set up with an authority to ensure the efficient and effective flow of commodity and technology supply from upstream to downstream. The highest retail prices should be based on a controlled supply system to ensure the stability of supply flow to consumers without harming the distributors.
Naturally, there is an emergency stage for the critical points and a transition stage for the production and the distribution of government-priced retail goods. If necessary, the government can buy back the goods, which were hastily bought by traders at certain previous price to avoid hoarding.
The discussions then ended with a Q&A session on the aspirations of both the community as consumers and small and medium business players who were also affected by the problem of palm oil scarcity. “CPO as a source of energy is indeed important, but CPO as consumer goods should be prioritized,” ended Togar Simatupang. (*)
Source: itb.ac.id
