Belgian farmers have been given permission to export leek and chicory to Indonesia in an attempt to appeal to the country’s many Western tourists.
Access to the Jakarta harbour
“We will not teach the average Indonesian citizen to eat chicory, but we are gunning for the high-class restaurants, hotels and resorts. Eleven million tourists visit this country every year, mainly Westerners”, Philippe Appeltans of the “Verbond van Belgische Tuinbouwcoöperaties” (Association of Belgian Horticultural Cooperatives) said. The Indonesian hospitality industry mainly uses Australian chicory at this point.
Belgium only exported apples and pears to Indonesia up until now, but Appeltans hopes to expand the export in the future. Access to Jakarta’s biggest harbour is the most important necessity, because everything still arrives in a harbour 800 km away from the Indonesian capital. Appeltans hopes the ministers who are part of the economic mission in Indonesia will exert enough pressure to make that harbour access a reality.
