Prabowo Affirms Commitment to Tackling Stunting and Economic Growth

Jakarta (ANTARA) - President Prabowo Subianto has affirmed his administration’s commitment to accelerating human resource development, tackling stunting, and strengthening inclusive economic growth.

The President said that his experience of visiting villages first-hand opened his eyes to the condition of children suffering from stunting.

“I asked their ages, and children I thought were four, five, six years old turned out to be ten, eleven, twelve years old. I then learnt that 25 per cent of our children suffer from stunting — impaired growth,” said the President in his address at a roundtable Business Summit session during his working visit to Washington DC, United States, on Wednesday (18 February) local time.

To address the issue, President Prabowo explained that the government has made budget savings through state expenditure efficiencies and cut unproductive spending prone to misuse, reallocating the funds to priority programmes.

“This is what I used to reallocate funds to these programmes. So I have been accused of being wasteful, and so on. No, no — this is a reallocation of resources,” he said.

President Prabowo explained that one of the flagship programmes is the provision of free nutritious meals for children, which has received international recognition.

He added that the Rockefeller Institute had conducted research and assessed the policy as the best possible investment.

“Every dollar spent on free food for children, according to the Rockefeller Institute, yields a return of at least 7 US dollars, but in the long term can deliver returns of up to 35 times over,” said President Prabowo.

The President noted that the programme also creates an economic multiplier effect through job creation and increased demand for agricultural produce. Furthermore, the impact of the policy is reflected in a surge in domestic consumption.

Before American business leaders, President Prabowo affirmed Indonesia’s commitment to maintaining its investment climate and strengthening strategic partnerships.

The President invited American businesses to regard Indonesia as a long-term strategic partner.

“This should be a win-win situation where everyone benefits. With benefits comes prosperity. That is the lesson I have learnt from history. Prosperity comes from good governance, clean government. Prosperity comes from stability,” he continued.