Part of the project process involved an analysis of world markets and Indonesia's market position in relation to two selected commodities - cocoa and vanilla bean. Another part involved project members working directly with individual Indonesian agri-business companies, assisting them to analyse export markets and develop new export strategies. The project involved three principal activities: 1) training of Department of Agriculture staff; 2) detailed trade analysis and research undertaken on cocoa (and a range of related products) and vanilla bean; 3) presentation of research results at industry workshops.
Six staff members from a wide range of areas within the Department of Agriculture undertook training in the following topics:
Introduction to the project - international trade coding systems -harmonised codes in detail;
What does the raw data look like and what do end results look like? How to interpret end results;
Country coverage for annual and monthly data;
Data valuation alternatives;
Data analysis techniques - pivot tables, data filters, lookup tables, valuations, charting and others.
TradeData undertook the initial trade research with early results presented to the Department of Agriculture. In addition, major firms and industry associations were visited, providing further information that assisted in the interpretation of the final research presented at the workshops.
The principal outcomes of the project were two successful industry workshops. The first, Cocoa and Cocoa products was held on 27 November 2006 in Jakarta. Twenty-six industry participants and four TradeData staff attended. Participants came from senior levels of government, ASKINDO (growers industry association), APIKCI (manufacturers association), International Finance Corporation (agribusiness linkages program), cocoa and chocolate manufacturing firms, a Swiss contact, and the National Agency for Export Development.
Separate analyses were presented on the following: World trade in cocoa products; Trade in cocoa beans; Trade in cocoa butter fats and oils; Trade in cocoa powder not sweetened; Trade in cocoa paste not defatted; Trade in cocoa powder containing added sugar; Trade in cocoa paste partly or wholly defatted; and Trade in cocoa shells and cocoa waste. These analyses were separately presented at the workshop with an open discussion between participants after each presentation. Each participant received an electronic copy of the presentations in Bahasa Indonesia.
The second workshop Vanilla Beans was held on 30 November in Denpasar, Bali. Fourteen industry participants and three TradeData staff attended. Participants came from companies active in vanilla processing and export, the Bali provisional government, senior levels of central government and Sam Ratulangi University.
The participants heard presentations of analyses on the following topics: World trade in vanilla beans, Major exporters of vanilla beans, and Major importers of vanilla beans. Again, the analyses were separately presented at the workshop with an open discussion between participants after each presentation. Each participant received an electronic copy of the presentations in Bahasa Indonesia.
Most workshop participants had not previously used detailed trade analysis as prepared by TradeData - and frequently were unaware of its usefulness. Thus attending the workshops enhanced their skills and ability to understand and evaluate potential market opportunities. This was particularly the case for the vanilla industry, which is a small sector where little-to-no research had been previously undertaken. These participants were particularly grateful to receive this information.
The principal project outcome is an enhanced understanding of the world market for the various products and the conditions necessary to improve Indonesia's trade performance - both by increasing exports and in some cases replacing imports.