TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Agriculture Minister Syahrul Yasin Limpo said Indonesia would soon export rice to China, Brunei Darussalam, and Saudi Arabia. The export plan was announced in line with the large volume of commodity stocks in the country.

“Bapak President, out of requests from many countries, only allows import up to 100,000 tons. But we actually have an overstock of over 7 million tons. We don't want to export but are overwhelmed. Hopefully, there will be no problems,” said Syahrul as quoted from Antara, Wednesday, June 22, 2022.

Syahrul said the demand for rice from the three countries is quite large. He said that China submitted requests for rice imports of 2.4 million tons per year, Brunei Darussalam 100,000 tons per year, and Saudi Arabia 1,500 tons per year.

The government, he underlined, wanted to keep security domestic needs of foods so that the export volume was limited to 100,000 tons per year.

Syahrul added that the export demand was not only rice. Singapore, for example, asked Indonesia to send other commodities, such as chicken eggs and chicken meat.

“Yesterday, we were asked by Singapore for eggs and chicken because Malaysia closed [the export tap],” he said.

This condition could not be separated from the threat of a global food crisis, Syahrul emphasized. Therefore, the export ban policy taken by a number of countries is Indonesia’s opportunity to export food, including rice. “In the meantime, we don't let other countries take the opportunity,” the Agriculture Minister said.

ANTARA

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