REPUBLIKA, JAKARTA -- By. Otniel Tamindael

JAKARTA -- The West Sulawesi province on the island of Sulawesi is one of the largest cocoa producing centers in Indonesia, which is the world's third largest cocoa producer, after the Ivory Coast and Ghana.

In the late 1980s, considerable efforts were directed at growing cacao in Sulawesi island, which lifted the financial fortunes of its farmers significantly over the next few decades.

West Sulawesi Governor Anwar Adnan Saleh, in the provincial city of Mamuju, said he remains optimistic that Indonesia will become the world's largest cocoa producer and exporter in the future.