Jakarta, Nov. 8 -- Indonesia's Agriculture Minister Andi Amran Sulaiman said the downstreaming program in the food, plantation, and livestock sectors, with an investment value of Rp371 trillion (US$22.2 billion), could create up to 8 million jobs.

He made the statement after a meeting with Minister of Investment and Downstreaming Rosan Perkasa Roeslani in Jakarta on Friday. The meeting agreed on an Rp371 trillion investment to accelerate agricultural downstreaming.

Sulaiman said that in the program's initial phase, the government targets to absorb three million workers over the next three years, or about 1 million people per year.

He emphasized that the government is expediting downstreaming in agriculture to increase the added value o...