Indonesia Eyes Top Spot in Global Cocoa Producer List
24 December 2014 13:16 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Indonesia aims to be the world's largest cocoa producer by 2020, taking over the spot from the Ivory Coast, Antara News reported.
The regional administration of West Sulawesi said they are ready to boost cocoa production to help bring the goal into reality.
To that end, the central government has allocatted Rp1.2 trillion for the province to boost production and improve cocoa quality, West Sulawesi Governor Anwar Adnan Saleh said on Tuesday.
Indonesia is currently the third largest producer of cocoa beans worldwide after the Ivory Coast and Ghana in Africa. West Sulawesi is the largest producing province in the country, with small farmers dominating the work on the province's cocoa plantations.
Anwar said the Rp1.2 trillion budget would be used in three years time to boost production.
The government encourages the development of the cocoa processing industry, going so far as imposing export tax on cocoa beans to better guarantee the commodity's domestic availability.
ANTARA NEWS
