Indonesia to restructure state plantation firms<\/p>\n
HAMBURG (Reuter): Indonesia's state plantation companies PT
\nPerkebunan (PTP) would be restructured in a bid to improve the
\nquality and productivity of plantations, Agriculture Minister
\nSyarifudin Baharsyah said.<\/p>\n
\"Our customers in Europe need not be apprehensive...the way
\nwe'll do this will not in any case disturb the flow of goods, if
\nanything it will create more direct trading links,\" he said in an
\ninterview prior to a presentation given to consumers.<\/p>\n
He confirmed plans released in Jakarta in August which involve
\nmerging 26 plantations into nine entities to boost PTP
\nefficiency, with view to a later stock exchange listing.<\/p>\n
\"We need to adjust ourselves to the changing behavior of the
\nmarket,\" he said at the presentation.<\/p>\n
A World Bank report this year said the PTPs performance was
\ninferior to that of the private sector, among other reasons due
\nto low commodities prices in the 1980s.<\/p>\n
The minister said the operational performance also needed to
\nbe improved to meet customers' demands for quality and in other
\nareas such as packaging.<\/p>\n
\"We want to move downstream to gain from the value added in
\nprocessing, for example in rubber goods, and for that we need
\nstructural changes,\" he said.<\/p>\n
The minister also said he wished to assure European customers
\nthat coffee and cocoa export shortfalls were a result of weather
\npatterns and not an attempt to divert supplies away from
\nIndonesia's traditional markets.<\/p>\n
He said he was pleased tea markets were opening up in eastern
\nEurope.<\/p>\n
He also said he would lobby the European Union to abolish what
\nhe called \"discriminatory taxes\" on commodities which did not
\napply to so-called ACP producer countries which enjoyed special
\nbenefits because of earlier colonial links.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/indonesia-to-restructure-state-plantation-firms-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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