The government continues to encourage the palm oil plantation industry, downstreaming the industry towards the cosmetics sector, which is currently part of the Palm Oil Plantation Fund Management Agency (BPDPKS) program.
In the context of this downstreaming, BPDPKS is collaborating with the People’s Core Enterprise Palm Oil Farmers Association (ASPEKPIR) to present palm oil-based MSMEs to produce palm oil-based products.
The workshop was held on April 22-23 in Pekanbaru, Riau as the main center for palm oil in Indonesia. During the workshop, an MoU was also signed on the downstreaming of palm oil for the beauty industry.
Helmi Muhansyah, Head of the BPDPKS UKMK Division, said that the macro cosmetics industry is in line with the increase in Indonesia’s young population, as well as increasing public awareness of the importance of maintaining the appearance and health of skin, the national beauty industry is also growing and giving birth to many local cosmetic brands.
According to data from the Coordinating Ministry for the Economy, the growth in the number of cosmetics industries in Indonesia has reached 21.94 percent, from 913 companies in 2022 to 1,010 companies in mid-2023.
The local cosmetics industry was also able to penetrate the export market with a cumulative value in the January-November 2023 period of exports for cosmetic products, fragrances and essential oils recorded at US$ 770.8 million.
Currently, the composition of the local cosmetics industry has reached 9,546, consisting of small and medium industries and is capable of absorbing a workforce of around 59,886 people in 2022.
“The cosmetics sector is still a huge opportunity for palm oil plantation players. “We hope that the development of palm oil SMEs will continue to grow so as to create downstream products from palm oil,” Helmi said.
Setiyono, General Chair of ASPEKPIR Indonesia, said that collaboration in the field of downstreaming in the cosmetics sector is very important to increase the economic value of palm oil managed by ASPEKPIR Indonesia members.
Currently, there are almost one million members of ASPEKPIR Indonesia. ASPEKPIR currently has enormous potential to support palm oil downstreaming in Indonesia.
Until now, downstreaming continues to be emphasized by the Indonesian government. President Joko ‘Jokowi’ Widodo also mentioned the importance of downstreaming palm oil.
