Jakarta to host 1st international agriculture expo

Saturday, December 16, 2006

The Bogor Institute of Agriculture (IPB) and the Indonesian Young Entrepreneurs Association (HIPMI) will host Indonesia's first international agricultural expo in March 2007 to promote local agricultural products on both the national and international markets.

The expo, which is also intended to support government programs for the revitalizing of the agriculture sector and increasing national food stocks, will feature farm machinery, and processed and unprocessed farm products, as well as presentations on agricultural research projects.

Djoko Said Darmadjati, the director general of agricultural product processing and marketing, said the expo was part of the effort to create and promote a better image for local products in the minds of consumers by disseminating information and providing transaction venues.

The expo will be held on March 16-18, 2007, at the Jakarta Convention Center (JCC) and will be hosted and mainly funded by the Bogor Institute of Agricultural (IPB), the Indonesian Young Entrepreneurs Association (HIPMI), and event organizer Performax.

Apart from the expo, there will also be a conference, workshops, field visits, one-on-one business meetings, and export, tax and trade counseling.

Rifda Ammarina, director of Performax, said that the expo would provide opportunities for all stakeholders involved in agriculture to establish ties with prospective clients. She expressed the hope that the event would gain the attention of the international business community.

HIPMI chairman Sandiaga Uno, who co-initiated the expo, said that based on a recent study, agriculture was an important entrepreneurial sector. Chastened by the 1998 economic crisis, 80 per cent of the 25,000 members of HIPMI around the country have been shifting their business focuses away from the construction sector to the agriculture sector.

"My short-term goal in initiating this expo is to create networking and to speed up the business repositioning of HIPMI's members. By 2008, we should see 10 percent of them already fully involved in the agricultural business," said Sandiaga.(02)