Jakarta - Minister of Trade Zulkifli Hasan said that Indonesia's areca exports are ranked number one in the world. He conveyed this when symbolically releasing PT Best Star Indonesia's areca exports for July 2024 as many as 28 containers, consisting of eight containers to Saudi Arabia and 20 containers to Bangladesh with a total value of USD692 thousand or equivalent to IDR11.10 billion. The export release was carried out at PT Best Star's warehouse in Muaro Jambi Regency, Jambi Province on Saturday (13/7/2024).
In the export release, Minister of Trade Zulkifli Hasan said that Indonesia is the world's number one areca nut exporter and supplies 35 percent of global areca nut needs. He also invited all stakeholders to continue to maintain and strengthen this achievement.
"The biggest areca markets are in India, Saudi Arabia, Bangladesh, and Vietnam. We hope that the release of exports to Saudi Arabia and Bangladesh this time can be a momentum to encourage the expansion of market access for Indonesian areca products," Zulkifli Hasan was quoted as saying in a press release from the Ministry of Trade that InfoPublik received on Saturday (13/7/2024).
Also present at the export release ceremony were Jambi Governor Al Haris, Head of the Jambi Province Industry and Trade Office Kemas Fuad, and President Director of PT Best Star Indonesia Muhammad Andhika Sakali. Accompanying Minister Zulkifli Hasan were Director General of Domestic Trade Isy Karim, Director General of Foreign Trade Budi Santoso, and Director of Primary Product Export Development Miftah Farid.
Zulkifli Hasan said he would continue to hold export releases as a form of support for Indonesian products that have successfully penetrated foreign markets. "The export release is a positive thing. We will continue to hold this event to encourage the export spirit of business actors," said Zulkifli Hasan.
Zulkifli Hasan also appreciated PT Best Star Indonesia for continuously encouraging the increase in exports of Indonesian areca products to the global market. PT Best Star Indonesia is a company fostered by the Ministry of Trade through the export development program. PT Best Star Indonesia has also been working to empower areca nut farmers in Jambi, Lampung and Bengkulu.
Exports of Indonesian areca products from January to May 2024 were recorded at USD49.1 million. While in 2023 it was recorded at USD127.39 million with the largest export destination countries for Indonesian areca nuts, namely Iran (42.11 percent), India (14.82 percent), China (10.81 percent), Bangladesh (9.41 percent), and Malaysia (5.86 percent).
World demand for areca nut is very promising. The 2023 world import demand reached a value of USD358.7 million. The world's five-year areca nut import trend (2019 to 2023) also grew positively by 39 percent. The largest areca nut importing countries in the world include India (USD147.3 million), Iran (USD55.69 million), Bangladesh (USD35.30 million), United Arab Emirates (USD34.42 million), and Vietnam (USD26.5 million). Areca nut is not only for direct consumption, but also for value-added industries such as biomedicine for antidepressants, antioxidants, and others.
The Ministry of Trade, through various strategies and policies, is committed to continuing to support the increase in national exports. Efforts to increase exports include opening access to foreign markets through Free Trade Agreements (FTAs), Preferential Trade Agreements (PTAs), and Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreements (CEPAs) as "toll roads" for exports of Indonesian products. Another way is export promotion through Indonesia's largest international trade show, Trade Expo Indonesia (TEI), which will be held at ICE BSD, Tangerang, Banten on October 9-12, 2024.
"The government, especially the Ministry of Trade, is working hard to encourage the opening of market access, especially areca nut, to partner countries through dialogue with partner country leaders, trade missions, business matching, exhibitions, and the utilization of trade agreements," he said.