The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS), in partnership with the government of Indonesia, today hosted a business roundtable in Jakarta that brought together 13 U.S. dairy suppliers and 120 plus participants representing 34 Indonesian dairy importer companies to facilitate greater U.S. dairy exports.
The U.S. Dairy Export Council (USDEC) supported the development of this roundtable event and USDEC Chief Operating Officer Matt McKnight led an industry delegation, presenting on the positive outlook for U.S. dairy in Indonesia’s growing market.
Other roundtable speakers included Joseph Donovan, U.S. Ambassador to Indonesia; Ted McKinney, Under Secretary for Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs, U.S. Department of Agriculture; Enggartiasto Lukita, Indonesia's Minister of Trade; and Vikki Nicholson-West, SVP Global Ingredients, USDEC.
“As the ongoing trade dispute with China has impaired our access to that market, we thank the USDA for working to stimulate greater sales of U.S. dairy products to Indonesia,” said USDEC Chief Operating Officer Matt McKnight. “There is a growing demand in Indonesia for high-quality dairy products and the U.S. dairy industry is ready to meet this need. We look forward to expanding our market share in this valuable market and building upon the relationships forged at today’s event.”
According to USDA data, the U.S. exported more than $165 million worth of dairy products to Indonesia last year, making it the U.S. dairy industry’s seventh largest export market. USDEC commends FAS for recognizing this opportunity for U.S. dairy exports and the Indonesian Trade Ministry for its commitment to a successful collaboration.
The U.S. Dairy Export Council (USDEC) is a non-profit, independent membership organization that represents the global trade interests of U.S. dairy producers, proprietary processors and cooperatives, ingredient suppliers and export traders. Its mission is to enhance U.S. global competitiveness and assist the U.S. industry to increase its global dairy ingredient sales and exports of U.S. dairy products. USDEC accomplishes this through programs in market development that build global demand for U.S. dairy products, resolve market access barriers and advance industry trade policy goals. USDEC is supported by staff across the United States and overseas in Mexico, South America, Asia, Middle East and Europe. The U.S. Dairy Export Council prohibits discrimination on the basis of age, disability, national origin, race, color, religion, creed, gender, sexual orientation, political beliefs, marital status, military status, and arrest or conviction record.
