Belarus to supply dairy products for Indonesia's free nutritious meal programme

Belarusian Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Food Alexander Yakovchits has confirmed that several contracts have been signed by Belarusian businesses to supply dairy products in support of Indonesia’s Free Nutritious Meal (MBG) programme. Speaking at the Belarusian pavilion during the Food & Hospitality Indonesia (FHI) 2026 event in Jakarta on Tuesday, Yakovchits noted that the agreements were concluded during a recent visit by the country’s leadership to Indonesia. “We understand that some of these supply contracts will be used for the MBG programme,” he said. He explained that the cooperation includes the provision of skimmed milk powder under two separate agreements. “We have already started supplying skimmed milk powder under the previously signed contract. The first batch has been delivered to our partners in Indonesia. After completing this deal for 1,000 tonnes of skimmed milk powder, we are beginning to implement the second agreement,” Yakovchits stated. The total value of the deals reaches 76 million US dollars, with Belarus targeting the export of 20,000 tonnes of milk powder to Indonesia by the end of 2026. Yakovchits highlighted that Belarus produced 9.25 million tonnes of dairy products in 2025 and aims to increase capacity to 12 million tonnes this year. “We see that Indonesia still lacks dairy products, and we are confident we can help build cooperation in this area because we have the capacity,” he said. The partnership follows the Indonesia-Belarus Business Forum and Business Matching event on 30 June, which preceded a state visit by Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko on 1-2 July. During the forum, Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto stated that Indonesia was exploring dairy import opportunities from Belarus to supplement the MBG programme’s milk supply. Beyond dairy, the two nations discussed strengthening agricultural cooperation through modern technology, including the development of agricultural machinery, technology transfer, and the construction of local assembly facilities. Foreign Minister Sugiono noted the forum held a potential cooperation value of 500 million dollars, while Deputy Trade Minister Dyah Roro Esti said current bilateral trade between Indonesia and Belarus stands at approximately 221 million dollars.