Nusantara Tropical Farm, a Sumatra-based producer and exporter of tropical fruit in Indonesia, targets to export 1.8 million boxes of Cavendish bananas in 2017. This would be a 58 percent year-on-year (y/y) growth compared to 1.14 million boxes of exported Cavendish bananas (equal to 15,400 tons) in the preceding year. Nusantara Tropical Farm, the largest grower of Cavendish bananas in Indonesia, is part of the Gunung Sewu Group. This group operates diversified businesses in insurance, food, real estate, consumer and mining.

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With the start of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) in 2016, Indonesia has to face tougher competition for its fruits exports. The AEC entails a high degree of free trade among its member nations and therefore competition for tropical fruit exports increases, not only in export markets in other parts of the ASEAN region but also on Indonesia's domestic market. Kafi Kurnia, Head of the Indonesian Export-Import of Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Association (Assibisindo), stated that, despite the great potential, Indonesia's fruit export volume remains small. The government is to blame as it fails to turn fruit into a key export commodity.

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