REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, SORONG - Indonesia has the potential to be the largest sago producer in the Southeast Asian region if the government and administration accelerate the construction of infrastructure such as mills, airports, seaports, and electricity.

"If these facilities are built, Indonesia will rapidly control the world's sago market," Bambang Sukmananto, the executive director of the Indonesian state forestry company, Perhutani, stated here on Thursday.

According to Bambang, Indonesia has the largest sago plantation in the world spread over 4.5 million hectares in Papua Island. The quality of sago from Papua is well renowned and is named "Sagu Raja" or "King Sago" as it can produce 900 kilograms of sago flour per trunk.

Papuan sago yields much more flour per trunk as compared to that grown in Malaysia, which yields at most 250 kilograms per trunk.

Perhutani is promoting the construction of a sago mill in Sorong district for diversifying its business that is still dominated by the forestry sector. With an investment of 112 billion IDR, or around 9.5 million USD, the under-construction sago mill, with a planned production capacity of 30 thousand tons per year, is expected to become operational by March 2015.

In order to maximize the development of the national sago industry, Perhutani has cooperated with several state institutions such as the state-owned electricity company, PLN.

"We have managed to negotiate with PLN and bring down the purchase price of electricity to as much as 0.24 USD per kilowatt hour as compared to its earlier offer of 0.32 USD per kilowatt hour," Bambang affirmed.

In addition, the sago mill will also need a seaport to ship the raw materials and deliver the finished products.

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