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F&B manufacturers want import duty waiver to boost exports
Representatives from the food and beverage sector met with Trade Minister Zulkifli Hasan on Wednesday to discuss state support needed by the industry to boost exports of processed foods, as demand from traditional markets — especially China and the United States — waned.
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A customer browses for groceries in a supermarket in Jakarta on July 2, 2021. (Antara/Rivan Awal Lingga)
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ndonesian food and beverage (F&B) manufacturers are urging the government to exempt raw material import duty as the industry seeks to push export performance toward nontraditional markets, amid challenges of inflation and rising input prices.
Industrialists in the F&B sector met with Trade Minister Zulkifli Hasan on Wednesday to discuss the state support needed by the industry to boost exports of processed foods as demand from traditional markets – especially China and the United States – waned.
General chairperson of the Indonesian Food and Beverage Entrepreneurs Association (Gapmmi) Adhi S Lukman said business representatives from the F&B sector had submitted a request to the government regarding exemption of import duties and support to ease raw material imports for the food industry.
“The main issue in the Indonesian food industry is the availability of raw and auxiliary materials that are mostly imported, such as refined crystal sugar, industrial salt and dairy products,” he said in a statement on Thursday.
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Responding to the request, Zulkifli promised that the ministry would keep supporting the industry by expanding more export channels aside of the maturing traditional markets, namely the Southeast Asian, East Asian and North American regions.
“Indonesian F&B products are good quality and with great opportunities to continue growing. For this reason, this sector must continue to be supported, one way is by digitizing trade," he said.
