The Indonesian government has set the growth target of agriculture Gross Domestic Product ( GDP) in 2009 at 4.2 percent, 0.69 percentage points lower than the 4.89 percent in 2008, Indonesian leading website Detik.com reported.
“Although the GDP growth will fall slightly this year, the agriculture sector is expected to absorb more labor forces than in 2008,” Indonesian Agriculture Ministry's Secretary General Hassanudin Ibrahim was quoted by Xinhua news agency as saying.
The government’s target is expected to create 44 million jobs for the labor forces in 2009 as against 41 million in 2008.
According to the secretary general, the Indonesian government also attempts to achieve sugar self-sufficiency with output of 3.41 million tonnes in 2010.
Meanwhile, the foreign trade surplus of Indonesian agriculture sector is predicted to reach 16.22 billion USD this year, much more than the 2 billion USD in 2008