Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Ministry of Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) has highlighted that Indonesian MSMEs can play an important role in implementing the Free Nutritious Meals (MBG) program.
"MSMEs hold a strategic position to support the MBG program, ensuring its success as a means to produce a generation of healthy and superior talents," the ministry's Deputy for Micro Enterprises, Riza Damanik, noted in a statement cited on Saturday.
To help MSMEs seize this opportunity, he stated that the MSMEs Ministry had held a forum to connect 18 selected micro enterprises with operators of MBG kitchens—officially known as Nutrition Fulfillment Service Units (SPPGs)—in Bandung, West Java.
He stressed that this initiative serves as the government's concrete effort to help small businesses expand their market reach by fostering a stronger foothold in the supply chains of food materials and services for the MBG program.
"This business meeting is not ceremonial—it is a concrete action to expand market access and strengthen the role of MSMEs in building an inclusive and sustainable ecosystem for nutritious meals," Damanik remarked.
He noted that all 18 MSMEs participating in the forum had undergone three months of intensive mentoring and curation.
The ministry's deputy stated that through the initiative, the government envisions MSMEs contributing to the national program as suppliers of raw materials, providers of catering services, or handlers of waste.
"MSMEs must be able to seize the economic opportunities presented by the MBG program by maintaining product quality and improving their business management," the official stated.
Furthermore, he stressed that the ministry is committed to supporting MSMEs through four key measures: enhancing business management capacity, facilitating access to financing schemes, providing legal protection, and pursuing digitization, partnerships, and market expansion to boost productivity.
He expressed hope that the Bandung forum would lead to the emergence of more SPPGs open to collaboration with MSMEs.
