This was confirmed by Deputy Minister of Cooperatives, Ferry Juliantono, at An-Nur 2 Islamic Boarding School, Malang, East Java, on Friday.
The Ministry of Cooperatives is continuing to regulate the ecosystem for cooperatives' involvement in the free meals program's supply chain so that they can provide added value to the community in the future.
"It is expected to increase the volume of cooperatives' business activities," he said.
The Ministry of Cooperatives is currently still identifying locations that will be proposed to the National Nutrition Agency (BGN) for setting up kitchens to supply food for the program.
"In Jakarta, we are also providing a prototype of a kitchen that is relatively ideal, and later, we will invite cooperatives in East Java there to get an idea of the kitchen," Juliantono said.
There are several things that are continuing to be discussed related to increasing the number of kitchens for the program, such as the management process, cooking process, distribution to schools, and the return of cutlery.
Deputy for cooperatives' talent and competitiveness development at the ministry, Destry Anna Sari, affirmed that an operational scheme for the 1,332 cooperatives will be created to optimize the supply of raw materials for the program.
The program, which was officially launched on Monday, is one of the work programs of President Prabowo Subianto and Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka for their 2024–2029 term.
A budget of Rp71 trillion (nearly US$4.4 billion) has been allocated for the program.
The government set up the BGN in August 2024 to support the program's implementation.
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Translator: Ananto Pradana, Raka Adji
Editor: Primayanti
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