Minister of Trade Zulkifli Hasan on Wednesday (23/8/2023) conveyed Indonesia’s commitment to strengthening trade relations with India, especially in the spices sector, during a visit to the Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC) market in Mumbai.
Hasan said that Indonesia is a spice producing country that exports spices to many countries including India.
Hasan admitted that he was amazed by the size of the spice trade in APMC which was quite advanced
“Indonesia will continue to strengthen trade relations with India, especially in the spice trade sector. For this reason, Indonesia must learn,” said Hasan in a written statement received in Jakarta, Thursday (24/8/2023)
Apart from that, Manado cloves, also known as Lalpari, are very popular in India.
This type of commodity is considered the highest quality in the world.
“We must continue to maintain and improve the quality of Indonesian cloves,” stressed the Minister of Trade.
Hasan stated that he would discuss solutions to overcome tariff barriers with Indian Trade Minister Piyush Goyal after attending the G20 Trade and Investment Ministers’ Meeting (TIMM).
On this occasion, Hasan also invited APMC members to participate in the Indian Trade Mission at Trade Expo Indonesia 2023 which will be held in Tangerang, Indonesia from 18 to 22 October 2023.
Meanwhile, Gopaal Ahuja, Director of Komal Exotic Spices (K Ahuja Foods), said the Minister’s visit was a great honor because India and Indonesia have a long history of trade relations.
“We have a long trade relationship with Indonesia. Many of the spices here come from Indonesia, such as pepper, coriander and cloves,” said Gopaal.
During his visit, the Minister had the opportunity to closely observe the activities at the APMC market.
Gopaal said that Indian spice entrepreneurs enjoyed meeting and interacting with Hasan.
“Our businessman are happy to meet and dialogue with the minister, because Indonesia is an important country and that he wants to enter a market like this is something extraordinary,” said Gopaal.
APMC Market is the largest spice trading center in India and one of the largest spice trading centers in Asia and the world.
The APMC market has 15,000 registered companies covering 77 hectares.
Source :
https://en.antaranews.com/news/291894/indonesia-to-boost-spice-trade-relations-with-india