The 14th Mitra Praja Utama (MPU) regional cooperation forum was held at Borobudur Hotel, Central Jakarta, Thursday (11/27). In the meeting hosted by Jakarta Provincial Government, the topic chosen was food sovereignty, especially since next year Indonesia is going to face the ASEAN Economic Community (MEA) and ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA).

The topic of food sovereignty is intentionally chosen to face MEA and AFTA. Thus, by the time, we would be truly achieved food sovereignty

“The topic of food sovereignty is intentionally chosen to face MEA and AFTA. Thus, by the time, we would be truly achieved food sovereignty,” stated Head of Jakarta Governmental System Bureau, Irmansyah.

According to Irmansyah, one of the concrete cooperation among the regional governments incorporated in this forum is fulfilling the need for food from producer regions to consumer regions. For example, there are three regions with highest meat consumption, namely Jakarta, Banten, and West Java. To fulfill their needs, the meet will be supplied from producer regions like NTT (East Nusa Tenggara) and Lampung.

“Through this forum, big cities in Indonesia later would not need to import food products from other countries anymore. Food sovereignty is different from food endurance. Food endurance could import food products from other countries, but food sovereignty is how to produce food from our own territory,” he explained.

At this time, MPU members consist of 10 provinces, namely Jakarta, Banten, West Java, Central Java, East Java, Yogyakarta, Bali, Lampung, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), and West Nusa Tenggara (NTB). The forum will be held in rotation. Next year, Bali will host the meeting.

“The theme chosen could be different, such as human trafficking or disease outbreaks,” said Irmansyah.

This 14th meeting was attended by Acting Banten Governor Rano Karno, NTT Governor Lebu Raya, Yogyakarta Vice Governor Sri Paduka Pakualam, West Java Vice Governor Deddy Mizwar, and Central Java Vice Governor Heru Sudjatmiko.