Remarks of the President of the Republic of Indonesia on the 6th National Fruit Festival, 9 August 2021 from the Bogor Presidential Palace, West Java Province
Bismillahirahmanirahim
Assalamu’alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh,
May prosperity be upon us all,
Om Swastiastu,
Namo Buddhaya,
Greetings of Virtue.
Distinguished Ministers of the Indonesia Onward Cabinet,
Distinguished Governors, Regents and Mayors,
Distinguished Indonesian people.
In this pandemic period, we must continue to maintain stamina and boost immunity by consuming more fruits and vegetables to stay healthy and to avoid disease. Indonesia boasts many varieties of distinctive fruits that are easy to obtain, affordable in prices, contain many vitamins that are healthy for the body.
Even though we have many Indonesian fruits, our fruit consumption level is still low, namely 88.5 grams per person per day, still far below the WHO recommendation of 150 grams per person per day. Therefore, I invite all Indonesian people to eat more fruits, to love various Indonesian fruits which are abundant with nutrition and are comparable with imported fruit.
By consuming local fruits, we not only increase our nutritional intake during the pandemic but also help our local fruit farmers so that they can have more spirit, more productive, and more prosperous. Fruit business actors will also develop so that the national fruit business ecosystem will move forward.
We want the local fruits to be more preferable and more popular to the domestic people as well as the international market. The potential of the export market is still very wide open, the opportunity is still very promising. We have exported mango, pineapple, banana, mangosteen to various countries. We want to export more types of Indonesian fruits so that Indonesian fruits are also favored by people in various countries.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
To be able to enter the international market, there is only one key. Indonesian fruits must be more competitive, both in terms of price and quality. The price must be competitive, the taste is well maintained, the supply is continuous, the production is sustainable, and the packaging is also attractive.
Therefore, the national fruit business ecosystem must continue to be organized from upstream to downstream. Fruit farmers must be assisted with the latest information and science so that their productivity can increase. Access to capital also needs to be strengthened. Storage technology must be better, supply chains must be more efficient, connectivity between regions and also for exports must also be smoother. Promotion of national fruits at home and abroad must also continue to be improved by adopting more attractive marketing strategies, using contemporary methods by utilizing technological advances.
I also call for education to consume the local fruits in a sustainable manner, to be included in our education system in schools. Likewise, it must be delivered continuously as part of family and community education to reach our children so that the younger generation loves local fruits even more.
Lastly, I hope that this year’s National Fruits Festival can be a momentum for the revival of national fruits, spur productivity, improve the quality of national fruits so that they are more competitive and reduce dependence on imported fruit.
Let us continue to increase consumption of national fruits. We consume more. We share it as a form of solidarity, as a form of concern and empathy to be more resilient against the pandemic.
That concludes my remarks. And by saying bismillahirahmanirahim, I declare the 6th National Fruit Festival in 2021 officially open.
I thank you.
Wassalamualaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh.
Om santi santi santi om. (EST/MUR)