East Kalimantan partners with Central Java firm to process swiftlet nests
The Provincial Government of East Kalimantan is partnering with a private company in Central Java to invest in swiftlet nest processing in the region, aiming to boost locally generated revenue from the non-oil and gas sector.
East Kalimantan Deputy Governor Seno Aji said in a statement in Samarinda on Sunday that as one of the swiftlet nest producing regions, East Kalimantan needs to secure greater added value from processing the commodity.
The presence of a processing industry in the region is considered capable of increasing the commodity’s added value while opening opportunities for higher regional revenue.
“The turnover is quite large, around Rp50 billion to Rp60 billion per month. This could become additional regional revenue for East Kalimantan going forward. Even better, the workforce required is very large, so we can reduce unemployment in East Kalimantan,” said Seno Aji after visiting swiftlet nest processing company PT Esta Indonesia Tbk (NEST) at Terboyo Industrial Park in Semarang, Central Java.
The visit, he continued, was a follow-up to the signing of a Joint Agreement and Cooperation Agreement between the Provincial Government of East Kalimantan and the Provincial Government of Central Java, carried out by their respective governors in Samarinda in early August 2026.
“From the joint agreement, we want there to be added value for East Kalimantan, because East Kalimantan has large raw material supplies of swiftlet nests,” Seno said.
During the visit, Deputy Governor Seno Aji was received directly by President Director and founder of PT Esta Indonesia Tbk, Hoo Anton Siswanto, together with Head of the Central Java Investment and One-Stop Integrated Services Office Sakina Rosellasari and Head of Supervision at the Central Java Investment and One-Stop Integrated Services Office Primasto Adi Wartono.
Seno Aji listened to a presentation on the company’s business processes and directly observed the stages of swiftlet nest processing, from raw material washing to packaging before export to several countries. The company has been operating since 1993.
“Through this visit, we hope PT Esta Indonesia, as a washing investor and exporter of swiftlet nests, can build a washing facility for direct export of swiftlet nests in East Kalimantan. As for the technicalities, whether it will cooperate with a regional company or what investment pattern will be used, we can certainly discuss it,” he explained.
Meanwhile, Hoo Anton Siswanto welcomed Deputy Governor Seno Aji’s wish for the company to invest in building swiftlet nest washing and processing facilities in East Kalimantan.
Anton said the company currently already owns a number of swiftlet houses in East Kalimantan, including in Handil, Muara Badak and Marangkayu.
“We are ready to cooperate. We can send people here for training, we will teach them, and then they can return to East Kalimantan to apply the knowledge. We can find land with plenty of workers nearby, then build a swiftlet nest washing and processing factory in East Kalimantan,” said Anton.
Based on the latest data from the East Kalimantan Quarantine Office, swiftlet nest production in East Kalimantan Province reaches around 176.524 tonnes per year.
The commodity is produced from around 4,640 swiftlet houses spread across various regencies and cities in East Kalimantan.
Its high selling value makes swiftlet nests one of East Kalimantan’s leading export products, with main destination countries including China and Australia.