Lack of nutrition still affects Indonesia: Minister

Lack of nutrition still affects Indonesia: Minister

JAKARTA (JP): Despite Indonesia's ability to provide the
population with staple foods, the country continues to deal with
cases involving a lack of nutrition and unbalanced diets, State
Minister of Food Ibrahim Hasan says.

Speaking at the celebration of World Food Day yesterday,
Ibrahim said Indonesia has so far succeeded in increasing its
food supply and consumption as well as improving the nutritional
quality of its foods.

This, he said, can be seen from Indonesia's energy
availability level, which reached 2,857 kilocalories per capita
per day in 1994, higher than the 2,500 kilocalories per capita
per day recommended by the United Nations' Food and Agriculture
Organization.

"Foods that are high in carbohydrate content, such as rice
grains and tuber plants, still dominate the diets of most of the
country's population," he said.

At the same time, however, most people's diets still lacked in
protein content, particularly animal protein.

"This imbalance may cause 'double nutritional problems',
meaning that people have a deficiency of certain nutrients and an
excess of others," Ibrahim said.

Fish

Yesterday's celebration, which was attended by President
Soeharto, cabinet ministers and guests from the diplomatic corps,
was held at Taman Mini Indonesia Indah in East Jakarta.

President Soeharto, in his speech yesterday, said the
government intends to boost the population's protein consumption
level and will do so by campaigning for the consumption of fish.

"The increasing demand for better-quality food requires larger
food supplies. At the same time, however, fertile rice fields are
rapidly decreasing, particularly those in Java," he said.

"Thus, apart from opening up new fields outside Java (to meet
this demand), we must also utilize other natural resources we
have, including those in our seas," he said.

Indonesia's territorial waters have a potential harvest of
about 6.7 million tons of marine resources a year, but have so
far utilized less than half of this, Soeharto said.

Indonesia also has some 14 million hectares of lakes, dams,
swamps and rivers, of which only one-third has been used, he
added.

"Fish is a source of animal protein which people can easily
process. Therefore, fishery management and cultivation must be
intensified," Soeharto said.

Ibrahim, in an interview with reporters yesterday, also
commented on the increasing number of franchising businesses in
the country.

He contended that Soeharto has warned about the dangers of
allowing foreign food franchisees to enter regencies, saying that
such businesses do not contribute much to boosting investment in
Indonesia.

"Most franchisees, for example, import their raw materials.
The businesses rely on royalties and have very limited amounts of
investments," he said.

Ibrahim considered traditional food "better" and "healthier".

"But they don't compete well (with foreign franchises) because
they often lack in quality and attractiveness," he said.

Commenting on this issue, the chairman of the AK & Partners
franchise consulting firm, Amir Karamoy, said there is no reason
to worry that foreign food franchises will outdo local
businesses, particularly in the country's regencies.

"Even without government protection, foreign franchises will
not be able to penetrate the regencies because -- except for the
Greater Jakarta area -- regencies are not their market segment,"
he told The Jakarta Post.

"Most people in small cities will think twice before spending
at least Rp 2,000 to Rp 2,500 (86 U.S. cents to US$1.08) for food
sold by foreign franchises," he said.

Amir considered that what local businessmen should do is
explore the franchising business and export their products,
because it is the only way to compete with foreign franchises
that invade the country.

"Indonesian businesses actually have an extraordinary
potential for this," he pointed out.

Amir said the government should do more to recognize and tap
this potential, so the businesses can compete on the
international market.

Among the local businesses that have "gone franchise" are Mbok
Berek, Ulam Restaurant, Es Teler 77, California Fried Chicken and
Kurumaya Noodles. (pwn)

Editorial -- Page 4

Photo -- Page 8