Australia is to help bolster Indonesia's beef and cattle trade.
The Indonesian agriculture minister Suswono says both countries have a gigantic investment plan to develop ranches in Papua and West Nusa Tenggara to boost Indonesia's local cattle population amid surging beef prices and shrinking cow numbers.
The Jakarta Post quoted Suswono as saying his government has 87 million US dollars to buy cattle and develop new ranches in the two provinces.
He says the Australian government has committed 56 million US dollars over ten years for the initiative.
Under the scheme Indonesia's state-owned agribusiness company PT Rajawali Nusantara Indonesia is planning to own a ranch in Australia to help bolster the domestic beef supply.
The company wants to acquire a cattle-breeding firm that has up to half a million head of cattle.
