REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, SURABAYA -- Trade Minister Rachmat Gobel said he supported local Indonesian fruits to be included in export commodities and promote them in the international market.

"In order to promote local Indonesian fruits in the international market, Indonesians should first treat local fruits as their national products and prefer them over imported fruits," Rachmat stated here on Thursday.

According to Rachmat, local fruits are of good quality and can penetrate the international market.

Once the Indonesian fruits gain popularity as national products, they can be promoted in the international market.

"If we don't love our own products, how can we export them abroad? We should treat Indonesian products as our pride," Rachmat remarked.

Director of the National Export Development of the Trade Ministry Nus Nuzulia Ishak said Indonesia has been exporting several types of fruits. However, the potential of our fruit export needs to be explored further.

"We have exported bark fruit to Australia. Our tamarind recorded a high export value of USD200 million in 2014," Nus pointed out.

Nus noted that his ministry will support fruit exports in the future. However, he added, there are several challenges to overcome as some destination countries do not accept Indonesian fruits.

"Some fruits vary in measure, so many countries cannot accept them. We should make efforts to support our fruit exports as currently we are focusing only on the main commodity and prospective products," Nus observed.

Indonesia's export value from January to December 2014 reached USD176.29 billion, a decrease of 3.43 percent compared to that in the same period in 2013.

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