JAKARTA, Sept 11 (Bernama-Antara) -- Agriculture Minister Andi Amran Sulaiman welcomed a Qatari agricultural company's interest in investing in the dairy farming sector of Indonesia to meet national milk needs, reported Indonesian News Agency (Antara).
"Baladna (a Qatari company) is willing to help us in the free nutritious meal programme by investing in dairy farming in Indonesia to meet our milk needs," Sulaiman noted in a statement from his office on Wednesday.
The Qatari company's readiness was conveyed during a discussion between Sulaiman and Indonesian ambassador to Qatar, Ridwan Hassan.
The two held a talk at Doha International Airport, Qatar, when Sulaiman was in transit to fly to Brazil.
During the discussion, Sulaiman spoke of having sought Baladna's assistance to produce two million tonnes of milk, to which Hassan responded positively. Hence, Sulaiman gave the green light to Baladna.
The minister explained that an annual milk production capacity of two million tonnes is expected to reduce the need for imports each year.
In accordance with the Agricultural Blueprint, Indonesia is targeted to achieve milk self-sufficiency in 2029.
-- BERNAMA-ANTARA
