April 26, 2006

China expresses interest in corn production in Indonesian province
 

China has expressed interest in Indonesia's Gorontalo region in its Sulawesi province for corn cultivation and production, Gorontalo Governor Fadel Muhammand said on Monday (Apr 24).

He said that the Chinese government was interested in the quality of maize which was produced in Gorontalo, and the country was exploring ways to cooperate in production.

The governor said the interest resulted from one of his visits to China with vice president Yusuf Kalla and he hoped this development would benefit the region in future.

The cooperation with China would open more export market for Indonesia's corn and Gorontalo's farmers should make use of this good opportunity, the governor said.

He said Gorontalo was now exporting maize to neighbouring countries such as the Philippines, Malaysia, South Korea and Singapore.

Gorontalo's maize exports to the Philippines for this month are expected to reach 8,000 tonnes while the 2005 exports' volume reached 104,460 tonnes.

Maize prices in Gorontalo are now on the rise. The provincial administration has raised the basic price of Rp850/kg (US$0.096 ) from the previous price of Rp700/kg (US$0.079) while market prices are still increasing.

Corn prices are now reaching Rp1,100/kg (US$0.12) on the regular market.