TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - This Tuesday, Trade Minister Gita Wirjawan and Agriculture Minister Suswono visited fattening places for cattle in Teluk Gong. "This visit is intended to evaluate the commitment of businessmen and stakeholders of the beef business, so that stable prices of beef can be achieved in a near time," said Gita Wirjawan when contacted in Tangerang today.

During the visit, Gita and Suswono evaluated the ranches and fattening places owned by PT Tanjung Unggul Mandiri. The place owns 11,000 cows. Gita and Suswono made the time to talk with PT Tanjung Unggul Mandiri's owner about the problem of the supply of cows faced by businessmen and importers.

Commissioner of PT Tanjung Unggul Mandiri, who is also an importer, Pudjantoro, complained about the difficulty to acquire supplies of cows. He stated that his company needs to import up to 24,000 cows, but is only allowed to import 13,000. "It is very hard to find local cows," he said.

He added that the reason it is hard to search for local cows is because the limitation of supply. "So now businessmen are facing tight competition to acquire local cows," he said.

Pudjantoro opined that one possible method to overcome the problem is by adding the allowed import quota. However, every time businessmen want to raise the import amount, they are seen as threatening local breeders. "The government needs to keep the balance between demand and supply. If not, then it's a problem for us," he said.

ANANDA TERESIA