Indonesia prepares 1 mln hectares to construct sugar factories

A worker harvests sugarcane for a sugar factory in Karanganyar, Central Java, on August 29, 2017. (Source: ANTARA/Mohammad Ayudha/aww/17)

Jakarta (VNA) - The Indonesian Government is preparing 1 million hectares of land in Papua for investors interested in building sugar factories, with a view to helping the country achieve sugar self-sufficiency, Agriculture Minister Andi Amran Sulaiman said on December 12.

As reported by the national news agency Antara, Sulaiman said with 1 million hectares of land, Indonesia can attract a lot of companies. One sugar factory may need 20 to 40 hectares with a capacity of 12,000 tonnes of cane per day (TCD).

He added that the government will not limit the number of domestic and foreign investors planning to build sugar plants in Indonesia. The goal is that the nation will have 20 to 30 new factories to ensure domestic consumption needs and promote exports.

According to Sulaiman, up to 3 trillion Rp (around 192.7 million USD) would be needed to build one sugar factory with a capacity of 12,000 TCD.

Indonesia's journey toward sugar self-sufficiency will still take a long time since sugarcane is an annual plant whose seedlings need to be cultivated in stages, the official noted./.

VNA