The agro industry is one of the strategic sectors that has an important role in sustaining Indonesia's economic growth, said Industry Minister Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita.
During the first semester of 2025, investment realization in the agro industry reached IDR 85.05 trillion, accompanied by employment of 9.8 million people or 50.26 percent of the total non-oil and gas processing industry workforce.
Agus said that so far the agro industry has become the main motor in increasing the added value of domestic raw materials, creating jobs, and being able to compete in the global arena.
Based on the ministry's data, in the first semester of 2025, the agro industry sector recorded a contribution of 52.07 percent to the GDP of the non-oil and gas processing industry, then contributed up to 8.96 percent to the national GDP.
Agus also said that the agro industry sector also showed a brilliant performance with an export value of USD37.38 billion and a trade balance surplus of USD26.96 billion.
"The data shows that the agro industry is not only a motor of growth, but also a pillar of economic equality and the creation of productive jobs," he added.
Agus added that his party also emphasized the importance of accelerating industrialization through increasing added value in the country.
"In the context of the agro sector, the industrialization approach is directed at strengthening natural resource-based downstreaming. Raw materials such as cocoa beans, sago, seaweed, and copra are encouraged to be processed into high value-added derivative products in the country," he explained.
Coffee Downstreaming
One of the business actors engaged in the agro industry is Herry Sulianto, who is the owner of the Ijen Lestari coffee brand.
Ijen Lestari is a coffee producer from East Java that has made international achievements as a Cup of Excellence (COE) winner, including 1st place in 2023. The UMKM focuses on producing high-quality coffee with standardized post-harvest practices, and has been operating for 10 seasons in processing Ijen coffee.
With a commitment to quality and sustainability, Ijen Lestari serves both domestic and international markets with worldwide deliveries.
Herry said coffee is included in the agro-industry because it is an agricultural commodity whose products (coffee beans) are processed into high-economic value products such as ground coffee. Coffee is also included in the plantation agro-industry and is one of the leading export commodities in the agricultural sector.
"Coffee is a plantation crop whose harvest, namely coffee beans, is the main raw material for this industry," he said when met at the Agro Industry Exhibition, at the Ministry of Industry Building, Jakarta (30/10).
Meanwhile, Acting. Director General of Agro Industry of the Ministry of Industry Putu Juli Ardika said that Indonesia is known as one of the world's major powers in the agro industry. Currently, Indonesia is the world's largest palm oil producer, producing more than 51 million tons of CPO and CPKO per year.
Meanwhile, the national rubber-based industry is the second largest in the world with production reaching 3.32 million tons per year. On the other hand, Indonesia's seaweed industry also ranks third in the world in terms of production, making this commodity a high-value export flagship.
Other commodities such as timber and rattan also put Indonesia at the top of the global market, while the national essential oil industry is one of the largest in the world and plays an important role in the supply of raw materials for the flavor, fragrance and wellness industries.
Furthermore, the pulp and paper industry, coffee, tea, processed cocoa, seafood, as well as processed food products based on sugarcane, milk, and fruits, continue to make a major contribution to exports and national employment.
"Indonesia's agro industry not only acts as the backbone of the national economy, but also as the main locomotive for increasing export competitiveness based on renewable natural resources," Putu said in a press release received by SUAR in Jakarta (30/10).
The Ministry of Industry held the 2025 Agro Industry Exhibition which lasted for four days, October 28 - 31, 2025 at the Industrial Exhibition Plaza of the Ministry of Industry Building, Jakarta, attended by 65 participants, which included medium to large scale industry players and agro-based small businesses.
"This exhibition is not only a promotional event for superior products of the agro industry, but also displays the great potential of the sector ranging from the food and beverage industry, furniture industry, essential industry, feed industry, paper industry, to the oleochemical industry," he said.
Products on display include palm oil derivatives, algae, sugar, biscuits, coffee products, tea, dairy products and their derivatives, chocolate, juice drinks, frozen fruits and vegetables, sauces, instant noodles, processed meat products, frozen food, ready-to-eat food, processed paper products, essential oils, furniture products and pet food.
IPB Agriculture Observer Dwi Andreas said that to encourage the growth of the agro industry, downstream products and market development are needed.
"Strengthening inclusive partnerships between farmers and industry to ensure the benefits of downstreaming are felt equally," he told SUAR in Jakarta (30/10).
Develop a food logistics system for the distribution of agricultural products from production centers to consumers.
