Rp6.5 Billion Maiden Export of Flagship Products of Desa Sejahtera Astra in Makassar

MAKASSAR: Today (8/12), Astra hosted a ceremony to kick off the export of flagship products of three Desa Sejahtera Astra (DSA) in Makassar, South Sulawesi, namely DSA Wakatobi, DSA Bombana and DSA Bone. Products exported include fishery products, seaweed and patchouli oil, worth a total of Rp6.5 billion. The goal is to improve people’s welfare and boost the country’s revenue in foreign exchange from the agriculture, forestry and fishery sectors.

What happened today is a manifestation of national export performance, which is one of the supporting factors to national economic recovery amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Based on Statistics Indonesia (BPS) data, Indonesia’s exports for the first half of 2022 increased 37.11% to US$141.07 billion from the same period last year.

For today’s maiden export lauch, DSA Wakatobi shipped 27 tons of seaweed valued at Rp450 million to China and 14 tons of fishery products worth Rp1.4 billion to the U.S., while DSA Bombana and DSA Bone shipped 12 tons of patchouli oil worth Rp4.7 billion to export markets in India and Pakistan.

The ceremony itself is part of the 2022 Astra Entrepreneurship Festival themed “Building Resilience through SMEs & Local Village Products of Indonesia”. The festival was attended by the Governor of South Sulawesi Andi Sudirman Sulaiman, Head of South Sulawesi Marine Affairs and Fisheries Agency Muhammad Ilyas, Director of Promotion and Marketing of Superior Village Products of the Ministry of Villages, Development of Disadvantaged Regions and Transmigration of the Republic of Indonesia Syahrul, Director of Primary Product Export Development of the Ministry of Trade of the Republic of Indonesia Merry Maryati, Special Staff to the Vice President of the Republic of Indonesia Dhika Yudhistira, Astra Chief of Corporate Affairs Riza Deliansyah and Astra Chief of Corporate Human Capital Development Aloysius Budi Santoso.

Representing the South Sulawesi Provincial Government, Head of the South Sulawesi Marine Affairs and Fisheries Agency Muhammad Ilyas expressed his appreciation towards Astra’s efforts to build a synergy of community economic empowerment programs through the DSA program.

“We are very grateful to Astra for its innovative breakthrough that encourages coastal villages to increase the quality of their fishery products for export,” said Muhammad Ilyas.

Meanwhile, Astra Chief of Corporate Affairs Riza Deliansyah said, “In the 65 years of growing together with the people in Indonesia, Astra realized that entrepreneurship-based activities such as Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), startups and local product development efforts are important in ensuring the country’s economic resilience. Astra hopes that through exporting DSA products, the development of superior products based on local potential can continue to grow and create synergy with all relevant stakeholders.”

The 2022 Astra Entrepreneurship Festival opened the series of events to celebrate Astra’s 65th Anniversary in the Sulawesi Region, which brought the theme of Entrepreneurship Day and the 77th Anniversary of the Republic of Indonesia and took place from August 18 to 20, 2022, through the digital platform 65tahunastra.jagat.live.

Giving Back to the Community

To date, Astra has developed 930 DSAs across 34 provinces. The program focuses on improving the economy of the community and increasing the capacity of flagship village products through four product clusters – fisheries cluster, agriculture cluster, coffee cluster and craft, tourism and culture cluster.

Activities carried out by Astra in the DSA program include training and mentoring, institutional strengthening, infrastructure assistance, facilitating access to capital and marketing support, to establish independent DSA role models as regional or national benchmarks.

Through the DSA program, Astra has contributed to the community by opening new job opportunities for 19,190 people, increasing average income by 88% and helping realize the exports of 94 types of superior products from 232 villages with a total transaction value of Rp22.57 billion (for the period end of 2019 to July 2022).

Export destinations for DSA’s flagship products include the United States, Germany, the Netherlands, France, Britain, Australia, India, Pakistan, United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Yemen, Japan, China and Malaysia.

Astra believes that DSA’s flagship products have the quality and competitiveness to be sold in the international market and become the pride of Indonesia, contributing to increasing the value of national exports and driving national economic recovery and growth, especially at the MSME level.

Astra’s passion for developing DSA’s flagship products to penetrate foreign markets is in line with Astra’s mission to prosper with the nation and support Indonesia’s Sustainable Development Goals.

For further information, please contact:
Boy Kelana Soebroto
Head of Corporate Communications
PT Astra International Tbk
Ph.021-508-43-888

About Astra:

PT Astra International Tbk was established in 1957 in Jakarta as a general trading company under the name Astra International Inc. In 1990, for the purpose of the company’s initial public offering (IPO), the name of the company changed to PT Astra International Tbk, followed by listing its shares on the Indonesia Stock Exchange under the ticker code ASII.

Astra has developed its business by implementing a business model based on synergies and diversification within seven business divisions: 1) Automotive, 2) Financial Services, 3) Heavy Equipment, Mining, Construction & Energy, 4) Agribusiness, 5) Infrastructure and Logistics, 6) Information Technology and 7) Property.

Astra Group conducts business operations in all parts of Indonesia under the management of more than 240 companies, including subsidiaries, joint ventures and associates, and was supported by more than 188,000 employees, as of December 2021.

As one of the largest national business groups in Indonesia today, Astra has built a strong reputation through offering a range of quality products and services, taking into account the implementation of good corporate and environmental governance. Astra always aspires to be the pride of the nation that participates in efforts to improve the welfare of the Indonesian people.

Astra’s business activities strive to apply a balanced mix in the commercial aspects of business and non-business contributions through 9 foundations and a variety of sustainable social responsibility programmes, namely Astra Untuk Indonesia Sehat, Astra Untuk Indonesia Cerdas, Astra Untuk Indonesia Hijau and Astra Untuk Indonesia Kreatif.

Astra initiated the Semangat Astra Terpadu Untuk (SATU) Indonesia Awards programme, which has entered its eleventh year, and has given recognition awards to 493 young Indonesians, consisting of 81 national level recipients and 412 provincial level recipients in the fields of Health, Education, the Environment, Entrepreneurship and Technology, which are integrated with Astra’s wide range of community activities through 133 Kampung Berseri Astra and 930 Desa Sejahtera Astra initiatives in 34 provinces throughout Indonesia.

For further information, please visit www.astra.co.id & www.satu-indonesia.com, and follow Astra through Instagram (@satu_Indonesia), Youtube (SATU Indonesia), Facebook (Semangat Astra Terpadu) and Twitter (@satu_Indonesia).