Imports Versus Big Opportunities for Cattle Farming Investment

The government has issued import approvals for 117,000 tons of beef and buffalo meat. The government is also opening opportunities for the private sector to gradually import 2 million dairy cows and beef breeding cows from 2025 to 2029.

Amidst the news, a Vietnamese company is exploring investment in the dairy cattle farming and milk industry sectors. The government has prepared several large-scale cattle farming investment locations and is even ready to provide a number of incentives for investors in the milk industry as well as dairy and beef cattle farming sectors.

In the Coordination Meeting for Stabilization of Food Supply and Prices for Ramadhan Lebaran on January 12, 2025, the Director General of Domestic Trade of the Ministry of Trade (Kemendag) Iqbal Shofan Shofwan, stated that the import approval for 117,000 tons of beef and buffalo meat had been issued. However, he did not specify the import volume of the two types of meat.

The import is part of the import quota of 280,000 tons of beef and buffalo meat in 2025. Of that amount, 100,000 tons will be buffalo meat and 180,000 tons will be beef.

According to the Head of the National Food Agency (Bapanas) Arief Prasetyo Adi, imports of 117,000 tons of beef and buffalo are needed to stabilize the stock and price of these commodities, especially during Ramadhan-Lebaran. Indonesia will import beef from Brazil and buffalo meat from India.

The import is part of the import quota of 280,000 tons of beef and buffalo meat in 2025. Of that amount, 100,000 tons will be buffalo meat and 180,000 tons will be beef.

"Bulog and ID Food were given a meat import quota of 200,000 tons, while the private sector received 80,000 tons," he said.

In addition, to support the needs of the Free Nutritious Meals (MBG) program, Indonesia plans to import 1.2 million dairy cows and 800,000 beef cattle breeders in 2025-2029. The Ministry of Agriculture (Kementan) is opening up opportunities for the private sector to import the cows, even investing in the cattle farming sector and the dairy industry.

In 2025, the Ministry of Agriculture targets investors to bring in 250,000 dairy cows and beef cattle breeders. The Ministry of Agriculture also hopes that these investors can partner with local farmers.

The response was positive. TH Group Vietnam is exploring investment opportunities in Indonesia's dairy industry sector. On Thursday (13/2/2025) afternoon, the Minister of Agriculture, Andi Amran Sulaiman, received a visit from the Chairman of TH Group Vietnam, Thai Huong.

On that occasion, Amran said, the need for milk and beef in Indonesia is quite large. Currently, domestic fresh milk production is only able to meet around 20 percent of national needs.

The national fresh milk production-consumption balance is in deficit by 4.9 million tons. The MBG program will increase the deficit because the national fresh milk requirement will increase by 3.6 million tons to 8.5 million tons.

Likewise with the national beef needs. With the implementation of the MBG program, Indonesia experienced a beef production shortage of 0.88 million tons.

Indonesia must be able to increase its production capacity of fresh milk and beef by 4.9 million tons and 0.83 million tons respectively.

For that, Amran continued, Indonesia must be able to increase the production capacity of fresh milk and beef by 4.9 million tons and 0.83 million tons respectively. In order to answer this challenge, the Indonesian Government is committed to supporting foreign investment in the dairy industry sector, as well as dairy and beef cattle farming.

"The Indonesian government is ready to provide various policy incentives, ranging from exemption from import duties for livestock and dairy industry equipment, to funding schemes with competitive interest rates and livestock business insurance," he said in a press release in Jakarta.

Amran also stated that the Ministry of Agriculture has prepared a number of strategic locations for investors. The locations are in Sidrap, Wajo, South Sulawesi; North Barito and South Barito, Central Kalimantan; and the Napu Valley in Poso, Central Sulawesi.

The provision of land is also supported by the provision of supporting infrastructure such as good road access, electricity, and clean water. It is also supported by the provision of health and education services for workers in the livestock area.

"We hope that the investment cooperation between Indonesia and TH Group Vietnam can be realized soon, so that it can increase domestic milk production and strengthen national food security," said Amran.