Indonesia’s Ministry of Agriculture is eyeing poultry markets in the Middle East, after successfully entering the markets in Japan, Timor Leste, Papua New Guinea (PNG), and Southeast Asia. The opportunity came out as a result of poultry disease outbreak in Europe.
“The Middle East has stopped purchasing poultry from Europe following some disease outbreak. Hence, we want to take this chance,” the Ministry’s Director-General of Livestock and Animal Health, Ketut Diarmita, said here on Friday.
Moreover, as most of the Middle East’s population was Muslim like in Indonesia, there would be added-value for Indonesia’s poultry products that had halal certification.
“So, we will have no serious problema. More importantly, we have to penetrate (the market) first,” Diarmita said. This would also take care of the surplus in domestic production. Diarmita said PT Sierad Produce had indicated some interest in entering the Middle East markets.
Indonesia has been exporting processed chicken, chicken feed, and day-old broiler chicks (DOC) to Japan, Timor Leste, and Papua New Guinea, with a total volume of 206.8 tonnes worth Rp1.85 billion or around US 135,250, managed by PT Charoen Pokphan, Indonesia.
Thomas Effendy, director of PT Charoen Pokphan Indonesia, said the exports to these three countries included 6.69 tonnes of processed chicken meat to Japan, 6.89 tonnes to Timor Leste, and 8.58 tonnes to Papua New Guinea. The company also exported 120 tonnes of chicken feed, LK 2420, and 5,000 DOC to Papua New Guinea.
