USSEC recently participated in a live television talk show in Indonesia.  USSEC’s Indonesian Food Program Manager, Dady Maskar, was invited to participate in a live TV talk show to discuss the topic “Challenges and Opportunities for Soybeans and their Derivative Products in Indonesia.”  The 60 minute program “Revenews International,” airs on the MNC Business Cable Network.  The MNC Business Channel is dedicated to audiences who want to increase their knowledge of the money market, business opportunities and investment news.

Several key points were discussed including the challenges and opportunities for soybeans as a basic raw material for tempe and tofu production in Indonesia and the challenges and opportunities facing the Indonesian tempe and tofu industry overall.  Mr. Maskar explained the purpose of the Indonesian Tempe Forum and described its efforts to improve production standards.  He also talked about the public image of the tempe industry and discussed the training and educational activities carried on at the Rumah Tempe Indonesia (RTI) in Bogor.  Mr. Maskar described the mission of the RTI to be the country’s “center of excellence” for tempe learning in Indonesia.  The last portion of the talk show was dedicated to a discussion of the potential business opportunities for tempe, tofu and other soy food products.
The program provided USSEC with an excellent media outreach opportunity to a large national audience to promote tempe and other soyfood products, as well as disseminate information on what the Indonesian Tempe Forum has accomplished to improve tempe industry standards throughout the country.  Indonesia is the fourth largest customer globally for U.S. soybeans, purchasing almost 62 million bushels in 2013`, more than 90% of which were used for production of traditional soy foods.