PRESIDENT: FARM PRODUCTS CAN OVERCOME DECLINING EXPORTS

Karanganyar, C Java, March 8 (ANTARA) - President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said Indonesia can rely on the agricultural sector to cope with its declining exports as a result of the global economic slowdown.
Because of the global economic downturn the market of export commodities has been slackening but this is not the case with the export market for food products, the president said when inaugurating Tawangmangu Tourist Market in Karanganyar Regency, Central Java, on Sunday.
"It is unlikely the market for food products will slacken because there is no single person in the world who does not need food every day," he said.
The head of state said Indonesia has not yet benefited much from the export market for food products, particularly farm products.
Citing an example, he said Indonesia now only supplies 10 percent of neighboring Singapore's demands for vegetables which run into a thousand tons per day.
"As a matter of fact, Singapore is close to Sumatra and Kalimantan and is not too far from Java. I want Indonesian vegetable growers to meet much of the demands from the Singapore market," he said.
Indonesia which is endowed with a vast area of fertile land has the potential to produce a wide range of superior farm products for exports, he said.