JAKARTA, Nov 23 — Indonesia, through its state-owned agribusiness firm, PT Perkebunan Nusantara III (Persero) Holding, has managed to record US$4 million (US$1=RM4.18) in tea sales at the Selangor International Expo (Food and Beverages) 2021.
“The number of transactions shows that Indonesian F&B products are very popular in the Malaysian market,” said Didi Sumedi, directorate-general of the National Export Development, Indonesian Ministry of Trade.
The participation of Indonesian companies in the four-day hybrid exhibition ending Nov 21 in Kuala Lumpur was aimed at stimulating exports of Indonesia’s F&B sector post-Covid-19 pandemic, he said in a statement today.
PT Perkebunan Nusantara III assistant marketing manager Asep Barkah said Indonesian tea exports to Malaysia amounted to between 8,500 and 9,500 tonnes annually.
Meanwhile, the Indonesian Ambassador to Malaysia Hermono said: “The response from traders in Malaysia was very good after months of life under the movement control order (MCO) imposed by the government.
“This can be seen based on the number of visitors which was far beyond previous estimates.”
Based on data from the Department of Statistics Malaysia, the value of Malaysia’s imports of tea products from Indonesia amounted to RM39.6 million for the period of January-September this year.
The value of the tea imports rose 8.25 per cent compared to the same period in 2020, making Indonesia Malaysia’s second-largest import after China.
The Selangor International Expo (Food and Beverages) 2021 was one of the six main events and three parallel events held at the Selangor International Business Summit 2021 (SIBS 2021) that took place from November 18 to 21 in a hybrid format at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre.
— Bernama
