“Working together with Seco and SIPPO on promoting the seaweed production helped improve the quality of agar and carrageenan and gave access to the international market .” NILANTO PERBOWO Director General, Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries, Republic of Indonesia
INDONESIA SERVING GLOBAL HYDROCOLLOID MARKET Since Indonesia – one of the global players in seaweed production – has increasingly focused on domestic processing of seaweed, the Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries (MMAF) has looked for the right partner organization to position the hydrocolloid industry and its agar and carrageenan producers abroad. The Swiss Import Promotion Programme (SIPPO), funded by the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), offered everything Indonesia needed to successfully access the European market as it expanded. Since SIPPO previously promoted Agarindo Bogatama, an agar company from Indonesia, MMAF was confident that SIPPO would be the ideal partner organization. Not only for facilitating the right business contacts but also by contributing sector expertise in food additives. The collaboration started in 2012. Together with MMAF, former SIPPO Programme Manager Food and Tourism, Pirmin Aregger created a sound marketing plan. Activities included trade fairs for Indonesian exporters in Europe and trade missions for purchasers to Indonesia. Trade shows in adorable Amsterdam, busy Frankfurt and charming Paris followed – on the list Food Ingredients, Health Ingredients and IFFA. The presence in Europe was established and the number of Indonesian exhibitors increased with each event. Many of the Indonesian companies participating in the SIPPO Programme have benefitted tremendously from the trade platform provided by MMAF: Agar Swallow, Algalindo Perdana, Cahaya Cemerlang, Hydrocolloid Indonesia, Indoalgas, Galic Artabahari, Gumindo Perkasa, Phoenix Food and Wahyu Putra. Finally, the Indonesia Pavilion has become a hydrocolloid hub for the food industry. The trade fairs in Europe served as a business card for the Indonesian seaweed industry. After visiting the Indonesia Pavilion, purchasers from Austria, Germany, Ireland, Poland, Spain, Switzerland and the United Kingdom decided to join a trade mission to Indonesia. The first event took place in 2013. Now the buyer mission for agar and carrageenan is a well-known industry event, taking place for the fourth time in 2016. Over the last five years, MMAF and SIPPO have become a real team. Juliana Klose, SIPPO Project Manager for Fish and Seafood, who has supported the project since its humble beginnings in 2012, recalls: “Looking back, we can be proud of the knowledge transfer and of what has been achieved so far. Looking forward, we hope that MMAF will continue at this pace.” Switzerland Global Enterprise T +41 44 365 51 51 | fish@s-ge.com | s-ge.com/fish
FACTS PARTNER COUNTRY
Indonesia SECTOR
Fish and Seafood OBJECTIVE
Positioning of Indonesian seaweed processing industry
MINISTRY OF MARINE AFFAIRS AND FISHERIES, REPUBLIC OF INDONESIA LOCATION
Jakarta, Indonesia www.kkp.go.id/en
OFFICIAL PROGRAMME