Indonesia's agriculture remains solid amid global turmoil: Minister

Jakarta (ANTARA) - Coordinating Minister for Food Zulkifli Hasan emphasized that Indonesian citizens should be proud and grateful for the country’s success in keeping its agriculture sector strong despite the ever-evolving global challenges and uncertainties.

Speaking as Chairman of the National Mandate Party (PAN), he remarked that Indonesia’s agricultural output has continued to grow solidly even as the international landscape becomes increasingly unstable, marked by armed conflicts and tensions between nations.

“Amid this grim situation, we must be grateful for the fact that our food and agriculture sector recorded a favorable growth rate of 13.53 percent in the second quarter of 2025,” Hasan stated during the PAN Awards event in Jakarta on Sunday night (August 24).

The minister cited data from Statistics Indonesia (BPS) indicating that businesses in the agriculture, forestry, and fisheries sectors grew 13.53 percent quarter-to-quarter in the second quarter of 2025, up from the 9.74 percent recorded in the previous quarter.

He underlined that this performance proves the resilience of Indonesia’s food sector even in the face of global turmoil.

Hasan contrasted the country’s positive trajectory with the instability arising from souring relations between Pakistan and India in South Asia and between Thailand and Cambodia in Southeast Asia, asserting that the Indonesian government has successfully kept the country on track despite such alarming issues.

Turning to broader economic growth, he recalled that Indonesia had once achieved a remarkable growth rate of around 7.5 percent, a level he believes can be reached again in the future.

“We must be grateful for what we have, for our success in sustaining economic growth above five percent amid global headwinds. However, we are still lagging behind China,” he noted.

He went on to affirm that both the government and PAN are working solely for national interests and the welfare of the people, not for personal gain.

On that note, he also called on PAN cadres to continue working hard for the greater good even outside of electoral seasons.