TEMPO.CO, Jakarta – Belarusian Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Food Alexander Yakovchits stated that Belarusian businesses have signed a number of contracts to supply dairy products for the Free Nutritious Meal (MBG) program.
“Indeed, during the visit of our country’s leader to Indonesia yesterday, a contract was signed,” said Alexander Yakovchits when met at the Belarus Pavilion at the Food & Hospitality Indonesia (FHI) 2026 event in Jakarta on Tuesday, as reported by ANTARA.
“As far as we know, it seems that some of the supply contracts will be used for the MBG program,” he continued.
He explained that one of the ongoing collaborations is the provision of powdered milk products. This collaboration is implemented through two separate agreements.
“We have begun supplying skim milk powder under a previously signed contract. The first shipment has already been made to our partners in Indonesia. Following the completion of this agreement, which includes 1,000 tons of skim milk powder, we will begin implementing the second agreement,” Yakovchits said.
He stated that the deal is valued at US$76 million. The company plans to export 20,000 tons of powdered milk to Indonesia by the end of 2026. He said that Belarus’s production capacity was 9.25 million tons of dairy products in 2025, and he hopes to increase that capacity to 12 million tons this year.
“We see that Indonesia still lacks dairy products, and we believe we can help build cooperation in this area, as we have the capacity in that area,” said Yakovchits.
The two countries previously held a business forum titled “Indonesia-Belarus Business Forum and Business Matching” on June 30, which kicked off a series of visits by Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko to Indonesia on July 1-2.
At the forum, Coordinating Minister for the Economy Airlangga Hartarto announced that Indonesia is exploring opportunities to import dairy products from Belarus to increase milk supply for the MBG Program.
In addition to dairy products, the two countries discussed strengthening cooperation in the agricultural sector through modern technology, including the development of agricultural machinery, technology transfer, and the establishment of local assembly facilities.
Indonesian Foreign Affairs Minister Sugiono said the business forum had the potential for US$500 million in cooperation. Meanwhile, Indonesian Deputy Minister of Trade Dyah Roro Esti stated that the value of bilateral trade between Indonesia and Belarus currently only reached around US$221 million.
Read: 19 Students in Central Java Fall Ill After Eating MBG Meals
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