The Bogor administration had discussed the plan with a number of relevant offices and institutions during a coordination meeting last May.
The city has made preparations and decided to turn the festival held at national scale last year into an international event this time, according to Deputy Mayor of Bogor, Usmar Hariman.
Rector of the Bogor University of Agriculture (IPB) Prof Herry Suhardiyanto, who is a co-organizer, confirmed that the festival will be held next November.
The event`s aim is to boost the production and export capacity when it comes to local fruits and flowers. He is hoping that more people will now export fruit and flowers.
In order to boost exports, he said, the first step is to improve the quality of local fruits and flowers so that it meets international standards.
The international festival will feature exhibitions, innovative product promotions, business meetings, export business coaching sessions and a conference. For the national program, there will be a fruit contest, fruit and floriculture room decoration contest, `fruitpreneur got talent` contest, sales exhibition, a carnival and several kinds of competitions.
Some 10 thousand Indonesians are expected to visit the festival. Besides, some 500 international buyers have been invited to participate in the Nusantara flower and fruit expo and product innovation expo.
They will include importers, wholesalers, retailers, processed food and beverage producers from ASEAN member nations, China, Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Jordan, Australia, New Zealand, as well as European and American countries.
The 2016 festival will display, among other things, various fresh flowers and fruits, seeds and seedlings, fertilizers, pesticides and hormones, processed fruits and flowers, herbal healthcare products and agricultural machinery.
The international flower and fruit festival will be the first and the biggest to be organized by the IPB at the request of President Joko Widodo (Jokowi).
Last year, the Bogor City had held the 2015 Nusantara Flower and Fruit Festival (FBBN) from November 27 to 29, in cooperation with IPB.
The theme for the third FBBN was "Revolution in Nusantara Fruits and Flowers Cultivation By Small and Medium Businesses for the Welfare of the Indonesian Nation."
Various kinds of activities were organized to mark the event, including a small and medium local fruit and flower business and investment forum, `Fruitpreneur got talent`, an exposition, and a fruit and flowers bourse and bazaar, in addition to an oranges and mangoes contest, a carnival, and a fruit and flowers declaration by 48 district heads.
"Through this festival, we wish to show that we have the potential. Now, the question is how to market it," President Jokowi had noted in his opening remarks at the IPB campus, Bogor, West Java, on November 28 last year.
On occasion, Jokowi had asked the IPB to help promote local fruits internationally by organizing a massive flower and fruit festival.
"I have instructed the minister that next year, the IPB should be given the task to organize a larger-scale Nusantara fruit and flower festival to be attended by international buyers so that they get to know the potential and strength of the Nusantara (archipelago) fruits and flowers. These should be promoted and publicized," he had stated.
Every Indonesian embassy must invite potential buyers in their host countries to participate in the next festival, he added.
Indonesian fruits could be marketed in many hypermarkets overseas, so that the income of the country`s farmers could be increased, the President hoped.
President Jokowi lauded the initiative of the IPB to launch the Orange Revolution aimed at increasing the national fruit production, improve the quality of fruit and maintain continuity in production.
The Orange Revolution also covers policy revolution, infrastructure, leadership, and human resource management, apart from innovation and technology, business systems and market penetration.
Indonesia needs a revolutionary movement to cope with imported fruits flooding the country`s markets, Jokowi added.
The Nusantara Flower and Fruit Festival is part of the Orange Revolution movement in Indonesia.
"Orange Revolution is a national movement to revolutionize domestic fruit development, marketing and policy," he stated.
At least four million hectares of Indonesian land remains idle during a certain period because these are rain-fed areas. Agriculture Minister Andi Amran Sulaiman is optimistic that the Orange Revolution would turn these areas into productive zones all year long.
Currently, local fruits and flowers register 34-percent surplus level of productivity when compared to the previous year`s figure. ***3***
(f001/INE)
EDITED BY INE
(T.F001/A/BESSR/A. Abdussalam) 18-06-2016
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