14/06/2011 (Tempo Interactive) - The government is cooperating with 14 companies to intensify agriculture sector. The Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Hatta Rajasa, said one of the commitments made at the World Economic Forum for East Asia 2011 was boosting the food sector. “The concrete form is called the 20-20-20," he said in Jakarta yesterday.

The 20-20-20 refers to a 20 percent increase in agricultural productivity, a 20 percent reduction in carbon gas emissions and a 20 percent reduction in poverty. “We have agreed that this program will be implemented in Indonesia,” said Hatta.

The companies involved in the program have planned to build a factory in Indonesia. They are Nestlé, Sinar Mas, Unilever, Cargill, Dupont, Monsanto, Metro, McKenzie, ADM, Indofood, Swiss RE, Bungee and Sygenta.

Deputy Agriculture Minister Bayu Krisnamurthi said the program would be implemented as of July 1. Improvement in agricultural production is expected to be achieved by 2014.

Two of the 14 companies plan to invest up to hundreds of millions of dollars to implement the program. The CEO of Nestlé for Indonesia, Arshad Chaudhry, said Nestlé would allocate US$ 100 million to build a new plant in Karawang. The program involving the French company includes increasing cocoa production in Sulawesi and milk in Central Java.

PT Sinar Mas Agro Resources & Technology commissioner president, Franky Widjaja, said Sinar Mas would allocate US$ 250 million for capital expense to intensify crude palm oil production.

Trade Minister Mari Elka Pangestu said food issues were the main focus because of their impact on people’s livelihoods. To prevent food price fluctuation, several steps are needed, including maintaining domestic food supply, information transparency and food stock.