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<\/p>\nJAKARTA \u2013 The palm oil industry is still the leading sector in generating the economic growth of Indonesia. Despite the lingering outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic that has impacted almost all of economic sectors, the palm oil industry is still growing positively and giving the largest contributor to the national gross domestic product (GDP).<\/p>\n
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Edy Yusuf, assistant deputy in charge of agribusiness and plantation development at the economic coordinating ministry, said in Jakarta recently that there are at least four benefits provided by the palm oil industry to Indonesian economy.<\/p>\n
First, as a labor intensive industry from upstream to downstream the palm oil sector employs directly 4.2 million workers and indirectly 12 million people.<\/p>\n
Second, every year the palm oil industry has contributed 3.5% to Indonesia\u2019s GDP.<\/p>\n
Third, its contribution to the national non-oil-gas exports reaches at the average of 13.5% per year. Its projected contribution through taxes to the national income will reach Rp2.47 trillion.<\/p>\n
Fourth, it creates a self-sufficiency in energy through the mandatory program of biodiesel, which saves foreign exchange and help reduce carbon emissions that is good for environmental protection. The government\u2019s biodiesel mandatory program can save foreign exchange and reduce import of diesel fuel at US$8.0 billion per year.<\/p>\n
“Indonesia is known as the world\u2019s largest producer of palm oil. It\u2019s no wonder that it plays a very important role in the national economy of Indonesia. Such role is still irreplaceable until now,\u201d Edy Yusuf said during an event of Journalist Fellowship in Jakarta recently.<\/p>\n
Indonesia\u2019s production of crude palm oil (CPO) in 2021 is predicted to reach 49.71 million tons. Its total CPO production has been consistent at around that level during the last five years. \u201cDue to its very good quality, the palm oil has become an envy in the global market of vegetable oils. Certain people and groups have been trying to block the palm oil. Among them is the European Union (EU),\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He said that the Indonesian government will keep pursuing smart efforts of countering the negative campaigns launched by the EU against the palm oil. \u201cThe government will also keep developing the national palm oil industry through a number of programs. The programs include the action plan of sustainable palm oil as stipulated in the presidential instruction No.6\/2019 on improvement of data, coordination, and development of infrastructure to increase capacity of oil palm growers. The government has been also implementing the program of replanting the oil palm plantations owned by smallholders who control around 40 percent of Indonesia\u2019s total oil palm acreage. Through the replanting program, the productivity and sustainability of smallholders will be increased.<\/p>\n
The government has also issued the presidential regulation (Perpres) No.44\/2020 that requires all palm oil industries to get certification of\u00a0 Indonesian Sustainable Palm Oil (ISPO).<\/p>\n
\u201cISPO certification requires all growers to implement seven basic principles of ISPO. The seven basic principles are business development based on sustainability principle, transparency, compliance to prevailing regulations, good plantation practices, social responsibility through economic empowerment and environmental protection.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith ISPO, Indonesian palm oil industry will become stronger at the global market, as ISPO functions like weapon and shield in the market competition,\u201d he asserted.<\/p>\n
The Indonesian Palm Oil Association (Gapki) Foreign Affairs Division Head Fadhil Hasan concurred with Edy Yusuf, saying that the ISPO program is a powerful weapon against the negative campaigns in Europe. \u201cThe EU had been always asking for a sustainability certification for palm oil. Now, Indonesia has already had the ISPO. About 80% of Gapki member companies have owned ISPO certificates. We\u2019re continually pushing for the implementation of sustainability principles among the oil palm growers,\u201d he asserted. (*)<\/p>\n
Source: Investor Daily | Featured image pinimg.com<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" JAKARTA \u2013 The palm oil industry is still the leading sector in generating the economic growth of Indonesia. Despite the lingering outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic that has impacted almost all of economic sectors, the palm oil industry is still growing positively and giving the largest contributor to the national gross domestic product (GDP).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":20661,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"neve_meta_sidebar":"","neve_meta_container":"","neve_meta_enable_content_width":"","neve_meta_content_width":0,"neve_meta_title_alignment":"","neve_meta_author_avatar":"","neve_post_elements_order":"","neve_meta_disable_header":"","neve_meta_disable_footer":"","neve_meta_disable_title":"","neve_meta_reading_time":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[3708,3709],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20660","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-publication","category-recent-news"],"yoast_head":"\n