It’s certainly more difficult for Indonesia to influence policies that inhibit trade in CPO imposed by importing countries, managing the growing demands of the oil industry sustainable following black campaigns, as well as the emergence of new competitors in the oil palm industry. They are all external challenges.
For the long term, if the Indonesian Government is only doing the usual thing with regard to the national palm oil industry, it is likely to weaken Indonesia’s competitiveness in the global market. Tax revenues have a good impact only for state revenues, not to the sustainability of the national palm oil industry. The success of Indonesia as the largest palm oil producer in the world today must be recognized not only because of climatological factors, technical agronomic, and land suitability. But also, mainly, due to government policies that support the development of the palm oil industry both policies related to aspects of the production, financing, infrastructure support, and a good cross-sectoral cooperation.
by Difa Kusumadewi, Ika Virginiaputri, and Rina Hutajulu
