Government Perceptions of Competitiveness and Development of the Corn Processing Industry in Regional Economic Development

ABSTRACT: The agricultural sector has an important role in regional and national economic development, this will only be realized if sustainable agriculture is created. This means that the agricultural sector needs to be developed from various aspects including marketing and the processing industry. Agricultural development is closely related to the role of government in the form of government policies, or budget allocations for the agricultural sector, and others. This study has objectives, namely; 1). analyze the competitiveness of the corn processing industry in regional economic development from the perspective of government perceptions 2). analyze the government’s perception of the priority types of corn processing industry that will be developed. The population in this study were the leaders of government agencies; at the Department of Trade, Industry and Cooperatives, Food Crops Agriculture Service, Animal Husbandry and Economic Affairs Office, West Sumatra Province. Sampling was purposive, the number of samples was 27 leaders. Data were collected using a questionnaire. Competitiveness data based on Porter Diamond were analyzed using the average, to determine industrial development priorities used A.nalytic Hierarchy Process (AHP).The results of the study found that; 1) competitiveness of the corn processing industry; a). from the condition factor with an average value of 3.57 (high scale), b). demand condition factor equal to3.11 (medium scale), c).Related industry factors of 3.42 (medium scale) and, d). Industry competition factor with an average value of 3.89 (high scale), then the average value of the total competitiveness of 3.50 (high scale). 2). based on the AHP, the three main priorities for industrial development are: (1) the corn seed industry, (2). creative industry from corn, (3) animal feed industry and corn flour industry.
KEYWORDS:Government, Competitiveness, Agroindustry, Regional Economic, AHP