JAKARTA, RAKYAT NEWS – The Indonesian Minister of Agriculture Andi Amran Sulaiman has announced that the Indonesian government is preparing three sites for dairy farming, aimed at boosting national milk production and meeting domestic demand through Vietnamese investment.

The selected locations include Central Sulawesi, South Kalimantan, and South Sulawesi, where the Vietnamese company TH Group plans to establish dairy farms.

“We have reviewed the site in Poso (Central Sulawesi) with TH Group. They are eyeing a 12,000-hectare area there, while South Sulawesi has 30,000 hectares and South Kalimantan has 50,000 hectares available,” said the Minister in Jakarta.

TH Group is a prominent Vietnamese firm committed to enhancing Indonesia’s beef and milk production capabilities. The company aims to develop livestock breeding, quality feed supply, distribution, processing, and increasing local farmers’ capacity.

This investment initiative follows a memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed on May 19, 2024, in the agricultural sector. The Minister emphasized the importance of importing breeding cattle to accelerate milk availability as part of the President’s agenda.

Minister Sulaiman noted that relying solely on existing breeding cattle would take significantly longer to achieve self-sufficiency.

“The planned investment from Vietnam includes acquiring around 250,000 cattle, which will have a substantial impact on national interests,” he added.

Previously, the Minister reported to President Prabowo Subianto at the Presidential Complex in Jakarta on October 31 about efforts to meet national milk needs through streamlined import processes for dairy cattle planned for 2025.

The Vietnamese investors are keen to establish large-scale dairy farms in Indonesia. “We are working diligently to facilitate their investment in Indonesia,” the Minister stated.

According to him, this import initiative is part of the government’s broader strategy to achieve self-sufficiency in meat and milk production through sourcing breeding cattle from abroad. “This plan also opens opportunities for both local and international businesses to contribute to the government’s priority program of providing free nutritious meals,” the Minister concluded. (Uki Ruknuddin)