Jurnal Ekonomi Pembangunan Volume 18 (1): 75-84, June 2020 P-ISSN: 1829-5843; E-ISSN: 2685-0788 https://ejournal.unsri.ac.id/index.php/jep/index DOI: https://doi.org/10.29259/jep.v18i1.9978 75 The determinant factors of Indonesian competitiveness of cocoa exports to Germany Tyas Titi Hapsari 1 *, Aisyah Fitri Yuniasih 2 1 Badan Pusat Statistik, Penajam Paser Utara, Indonesia 2 Politeknik Statistika, Sekolah Tinggi Ilmu Statistik, Indonesia * Correspondence author email: tthapsari@gmail.com Article Info: Received: 2019-11-01; Accepted: 2020-03-06; Published: 2020-07-12 Abstract: Cocoa is one of the leading commodities from the plantation sub-sector in Indonesia. At the world level, Indonesia is the third-largest producer of cocoa beans after Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana (FAO, 2017). However, Indonesia still exports cocoa in the form of (raw) beans which results in the loss of added value and not developing the domestic cocoa industry. For this reason, the government issued No. 67/PMK.011/ 2010 concerning the imposition of Export Levy and Export Levy Tariffs to suppress the export of cocoa beans and then increase the competitiveness of processed cocoa exports. The purpose of this study was to determine the competitiveness performance of Indonesian processed cocoa to Germany and what factors influenced the export competitiveness in 1992-2017. This study uses secondary data from various sources that were analyzed using Revealed Comparative Advantage (RCA) and Error Correction Mechanism (ECM). The analysis shows that in the long run the variable exchange rate, world cocoa prices, and dummy export duty significantly affect competitiveness while in the short term, population variables and world cocoa prices significantly influence competitiveness. Keywords: Cocoa; Export, RCA; Competitiveness JEL Classification: F10, F15, Q17 How to Cite: Hapsari, T. T., & Yuniasih, A. F. (2020). The determinant factors of Indonesian competitiveness of cocoa exports to Germany. Jurnal Ekonomi Pembangunan, 18(1): 75-84. DOI: https://doi.org/10.29259/jep.v18i1.9978. 1. INTRODUCTION Theobroma Cacao L (Cocoa) is one of the leading plantation commodities whose role is quite important for the national economy, especially as a source of income, foreign exchange, and employment providers for the community (Departemen Perindustrian, 2007). Besides, cocoa also plays a role in encouraging regional development and agro-industry development (Kementerian Pertanian, 2016). Cocoa plantations in Indonesia have experienced quite rapid development. Based on Indonesian Cocoa Statistics published by BPS in 2017, the total area of Indonesian cocoa plantations in 2016 was recorded at 1.72 million ha, growing very rapidly from 1990 which was only 357 thousand ha. As many as 1.67 million ha (97.55%) of the total area of cocoa are community plantations, 27 thousand ha (1.59%) are large private plantations and the remaining 14 thousand ha (0.85%) are large state plantations. The main production centers of cocoa beans are in Central Sulawesi, South Sulawesi, Southeast Sulawesi, West Sulawesi, Lampung, and West Sumatra (Indonesian Cocoa Statistics, 2017). In 2017, Indonesian cocoa became one of the sixth-largest national plantation products after oil palm, rubber, coconut, sugar cane, and coffee (BPS, 2017). Indonesia's achievements in the world are no less good, becoming the third-largest producer of cocoa beans in the world after Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana from 2002 to the present (FAO, 2017). Indonesia has succeeded in becoming