Iran leader visits Indonesia to deepen economic ties

By Achmad Ibrahim & Niniek Karmini The Associated Press

BOGOR, Indonesia—Ira - nian President Ebrahim

Raisi will meet his Indonesian counterpart Joko Widodo on Tuesday during a two-day trip aiming to strengthen economic ties between the Muslim-majority nations amid heightened global geopolitical tensions.

Indonesia’s Foreign Affairs Ministry said Raisi is visiting at Widodo’s invitation as Indonesia aims to speed up its post-pandemic recovery by increasing its exports.

The visit is expected to deepen Iran’s ties with Indonesia as

Tehran seeks alternatives to the United States-led Western domination of international affairs and seeks further cooperation after the two nations concluded negotiations on the IndonesiaIran Preferential Trade Agreement this month, Indonesia’s Trade Ministry said.

The ministry’s data showed that trade between Indonesia and Iran amounted to $54.1 million between January and March, while the bilateral trade value last year increased by more than 23% to $257.2 million.

Iran was a nontraditional trade partner for Indonesia, said Johni Martha, the director of bilateral negotiations at Indonesia’s Trade

Ministry. “With this PTA, we hope to widen our market reach and export opportunities in the Middle East and Persia,” he said.

Southeast Asia’s largest economy is seeking new markets to diversify its export options and to reduce its reliance on traditional trade partners, many of which have been affected by a weakened global economy and geopolitical risks.

In February, Raisi met with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping to seek further cooperation following their meeting last September in Uzbekistan, when Xi underscored China’s support for Iran. Both countries have had tense relations with the US and have sought to project themselves as a counterweight to American power alongside Russia.

Washington has accused Iran of selling hundreds of attack drones to Russia for its war in Ukraine and has sanctioned executives of an Iranian drone manufacturer. At that same time, ties between Moscow and Beijing have grown stronger.

While in Indonesia, Raisi is scheduled to lay a wreath at the Kalibata Heroes Cemetery in Jakarta to honor Indonesia’s war dead before he meets with Widodo in the presidential palace in Bogor. They will witness the signing of the PTA and other agreements.

Editor: Angel R. Calso

Tracing the roots of the onion crisis

IT was more than a decade ago when the Philippines was able to produce all of the country’s onion requirements. Based on data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), the onion self-sufficiency ratio (SSR) reached 107.7 percent in 2011. According to the PSA, the SSR shows the magnitude of production in relation to domestic utilization—the extent to which a country’s supply of commodities is derived from its own domestic production.

The PSA data showed that in 2011, the country’s onion output exceeded total requirements. Output has been relatively steady after 2011 as the ratio was above 90 percent, then it fell drastically in 2016, when onion SSR nosedived to 47.65 percent. That year, the Philippines had to import more than half of its onion requirements to fill the gap in domestic supply.

From 2016 up to 2022, local onion output was unable to meet domestic requirement based on data from the PSA. The agency releases an annual report under the Agricultural Indicators System (AIS) series, including the self-sufficiency level of the Philippines for rice and other crops like onions. Annual reports released by the agency showed that the country had to depend on imports to meet the demand for onion.

This is the situation that enabled cartels and their cohorts to prey on hapless consumers who had to shell out hundreds of pesos for a few pieces of onions in the fourth quarter of 2022. (See, “DA: Repeat of ’22 onion price spikes unlikely,” in the BusinessMirror, May 22, 2023). The prices seen in December were unprecedented, something that has never been experienced before by Filipinos who put up with price spikes during the holidays, when products become more expensive due to higher demand. The cartels and profiteers may be faulted for taking advantage of the supply chain snags and higher commodity prices that resulted from global headwinds, but it is not illegal in this country to make a profit from one’s products.

Apart from going after hoarders and profiteers, it is high time for concerned authorities to focus on improving production and putting in place reforms that will allow farmers to maximize profits from their produce. The Philippines has plenty of brilliant policymakers who know what it takes to prevent traders from taking advantage of the onion supply situation. But it’s one thing to talk about improvements, and another thing to actually make the hard decisions and implement the necessary policies that will limit the impact of unscrupulous practices on supply and prices.

Agencies like the Department of Agriculture crafts roadmaps for certain crops that will detail strategies for increasing production. Based on an updated roadmap released by the previous administration, the Philippines can again achieve self-sufficiency but this is contingent on the timely implementation of interventions that will allow the year-round production and availability of onions. And these are measures that require not only funds but also the political will to implement, as it would entail driving middlemen and some traders out of business.

Since 2005