Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Indonesia, the world`s third biggest cocoa producer has agreed to cooperate with the Association of the Chocolate, Biscuit and Confectionary Industries of the European Union (COABISCO) in developing cocoa-based industries in the country, a minister said.
"We have reached a cooperation agreement in the sense that as an association, (COABISCO) has a lot of information on market demand in the European Union," Indonesian Trade Minister Mari Elka Pangestu said on Wednesday.
A team of COABISCO officials visited cacao plantations and cocoa-based industries in Indonesia some time ago to give inputs on how to produce high quality cocoa, she said.
In addition, the association would also help Indonesia get the same treatment as African countries in terms of import duties on processed cocoa, she said.
"Basically, African and Asian countries are the same. However, as the majority of African countries are least developed ones they have special agreements with EU. So, we must try to get the same treatment as the African countries," she said.
Indonesia which produces around 400,000 tons of cocoa a year is the world`s biggest cocoa producer after Ivory Coast and Ghana. Around 70 percent of Indonesia`s cocoa production is exported.
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