JAKARTA - SOE Minister Erick Thohir invited state-owned companies to support the progress of farmers and the national coffee industry. This was conveyed by Erick at the coffee industry exhibition "Indonesia Coffee Festival (ICF) 2023" at the Jakarta International Expo, Saturday (6/5/2023).

According to Erick, state-owned companies must be able to create solutions that integrate all stakeholders in the coffee industry. One of them is through the Makmur program, which is an agricultural ecosystem to support farmer productivity and income.

"I, as the minister of BUMN, invited State-Owned Companies at the beginning. We as State-Owned Companies must be the solution. Then this was created, Makmur coffee. In fact, there are many other Prosperous. So that all stakeholders are integrated," Erick explained.

To support the sustainability of the national coffee industry, Erick also invites the parties involved not to stand alone. Coffee industry players must be able to work together. Erick also said that Indonesia must be more active, have a fighting spirit, and always provide solutions.

"This is what I hope. All of us in SOEs want to be a solution. We knit together, we produce together, and we develop together," Erick explained.

In the same place, Pupuk Indonesia's Director of Human Resources, Tina T Kemala Intan, said that her party also supports the efforts of BUMN Minister Erick Thohir to develop the national coffee industry. One of them is by being involved in the Makmur program ecosystem.

In the Makmur program, Pupuk Indonesia and its subsidiaries play a role in providing escort for fertilization and agricultural cultivation. Not only coffee, the Makmur program also targets other strategic commodities, from rice, corn, soybeans, and so on.

"Pupuk Indonesia will certainly continue to contribute by providing solutions, in this case providing fertilization and agricultural cultivation solutions," said Tina.

Tina further explained that in this program Pupuk Indonesia also displayed two coffee products. The first is Kopi Atu Singkih Bergenadal (ASB) from Aceh and the second is Kopi Geulis from West Java. The two coffees are products of the fostered partners of Pupuk Indonesia holding members, namely PT Pupuk Iskandar Muda and PT Pupuk Kujang Cikampek.

Apart from bringing coffee products from the fostered partners, Pupuk Indonesia also displayed PT Pusri Palembang's special coffee NPK fertilizer product. Here, Pupuk Indonesia also provides education and outreach to participants and visitors regarding the application of NPK fertilizer specifically for coffee which has just been launched in 2021 in Palembang.

"The NPK fertilizer factory owned by Pupuk Indonesia group can indeed produce customized NPK fertilizer for a number of specific commodities. Not only coffee, there are also NPK specifically for cassava, cocoa, and so on," explained Tina.

Not just an exhibition, previously Pupuk Indonesia also signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) regarding the Coffee Project Management Office (PMO) which was initiated by SOE Minister Erick Thohir in 2021. Apart from involving a number of BUMN companies, this MoU was also signed by the Sustainable Coffee Platform of Indonesia (SCOPI) and the Specialty Coffee Association of Indonesia (SCAI).