TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Chairperson of the National Economic Council (DEN) Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan claims that foreign parties are interested in helping to implement President Prabowo Subianto's flagship program, free nutritious meals program (MBG).

Luhut said that the government has discussed the MBG program with a team from the non-profit organization from the United States, The Rockefeller Foundation.

He claimed that he had discussed it with representatives of Rockefeller in Bali and Jakarta. Not only that, the Rockefeller party is also said to have met with Prabowo.

"They are very eager to support us, and we will discuss this program in detail," Luhut said at the Bloomberg Technoz Economic Outlook 2025 event in SCBD, South Jakarta, on Thursday, February 20, 2025.

The former Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment in former President Joko Widodod's administration explained that they will also discuss how to build an ecosystem and manage the MBG program. Support from this philanthropic organization, he added, will promote equality within the country, especially in addressing stunting and poverty issues.

Luhut said that Indonesia can learn from the experiences of several countries that have already implemented similar programs. For example, South Korea and India.

"The Rockefeller Foundation told me last night, they said 130 countries have implemented similar programs," he said.

Regarding the funding for Prabowo's priority program, Luhut is confident that the state budget is still sufficient.

"Funding is not a problem, I think our State Budget (APBN) is sufficient," he said. "Our concern is now is the management."

In the 2025 APBN, the government allocated a fund of Rp71 trillion for the implementation of the program. However, Prabowo instructed National Nutrition Agency (BGN) to accelerate so that the MBG program can be enjoyed by 82.9 million recipients by the end of 2025.

This acceleration is said to require additional costs. BGN estimates that the agency needs at least Rp 100 trillion to carry out the instructions from the head of state.

As of February 2025, Head of BGN Dadan Hindayana said the number of beneficiaries of the free nutritious meal program has increased as the number of Nutrition Fulfillment Service Units (SPPG) has increased as kitchens to prepare the meals.

"Today, it already covers 245 nutrition fulfillment service units for 730,000 beneficiaries in 34 provinces," said Dadan after meeting with the House of Representatives Commission IX, on Monday night, February 3, 2025, at the Parliamentary Complex, Jakarta.

Dian Rahma Fika contributed to the writing of this article.

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