Bogor - President of the Republic of Indonesia Prabowo Subianto conveyed the commitment of the Japanese government to strengthen bilateral relations between the two countries by supporting nutritious meal programs for children in Indonesia. In this regard, President Prabowo said that Japan has a long experience in providing nutritious food for school children.
“They are also interested in helping in the field of nutritious food because they also have experience in that field for 80 years. And they offer their initiative to help, maybe with training and so on,” President Prabowo said in a press statement reported by BPMI Setpres, after a bilateral meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru, at the Bogor Presidential Palace, West Java, on Saturday (11/1/2025).
In response, Prime Minister Ishiba expressed his readiness to organize a cooperation program that includes training in providing school lunches. In addition, another cooperation program also initiated by the Japanese government is the sending of experts and the development of the fisheries and agriculture sectors in Indonesia.
“We, the Japanese government, will organize a cooperation package including training for school lunch providers, dispatch of experts and assistance in improving the fisheries and agriculture sectors by utilizing various experiences of Japan,” said Prime Minister Ishiba.
On the occasion, the two leaders also discussed other cooperation in disaster management. Prime Minister Ishiba highlighted the importance of cooperation in disaster mitigation, given that both countries are vulnerable to natural disasters.
“We have reached an agreement to carry out cooperation on volcano disaster management,” Prime Minister Ishiba said.
In addition, the two countries agreed to improve the competence of human resources (HR) with an exchange model through various education and training programs. This human-to-human connection can be key in strengthening bilateral relations between the two countries in the future.
“The relationship between the two countries, Indonesia and Japan, is based on human-to-human relations. Therefore, we have agreed and we are eager to increase the exchange of human resources in the future,” added Prime Minister Ishiba.
Ending his statement, Prime Minister Ishiba also invited President Prabowo to visit Japan and attend Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai. PM Ishiba hopes that this moment will also strengthen the cooperative relationship between the two countries in the future.
“I look forward to the moments where we can serve many guests from Indonesia at the Osaka Kansai Japan Expo. And I would like to invite President Prabowo to Japan and welcome him to Japan,” concluded Prime Minister Ishiba.