Jakarta. President Prabowo Subianto is expected to resume food security talks when he meets Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Wednesday, as Canberra hopes to become Indonesia’s key agrifood supplier.

In mid-May 2025, Albanese made Jakarta his first overseas trip after winning his second consecutive term. Prabowo will make a return visit to the close neighbor about six months later. Deputy Ambassador to Indonesia Gita Kamath recently shared more details on the meeting that could supercharge agricultural trade. She even repeated Albanese’s words, saying “there is no country more important to Australia than Indonesia”.

“[The leaders] had a very good discussion in May, including on issues such as agriculture and food security. In July, our agricultural minister [Julie Collins] came to Jakarta. I think they [the leaders] will continue that discussion later,” Kamath said on Monday evening, commenting on Prabowo’s upcoming state visit.

Kamath signaled that Canberra would like to continue lending a hand for Prabowo’s flagship school-feeding program. Australia has provided funding for the so-called "centers of excellence" to improve the nationwide meal rollout. These centers -- backed by the humanitarian aid organization UNICEF -- act as a knowledge hub to drive research and training on the program that aims to feed 82.9 million individuals every school day. 

The National Farmers’ Federation (NFF), a group representing Australia’s agricultural sector, said that their breeders had shown interest in helping supply the ingredients that make up the meals. Australian breeders are also aware of Indonesia’s plans to import 2 million cattle for breeding purposes by 2029, half of which are dairy cattle. Su McCluskey, the interim chief executive of NFF, revealed that Australia was open to bringing some of its breeders to invest in Indonesia.

“We have had wonderful meetings with different [Indonesian] businesses. We have heard how they are importing from Australia. These breeders can help build up the herd here that deliver not only the protein, but also the milk that goes to the nutrition program,” McCluskey told the press.

Albanese-Prabowo’s talks in May resulted in a 46-point communiqué which highlighted their “shared commitment” to support food security. The document touched on Indonesia’s endeavor to combat stunting through its nutrition intervention program.

Unlike his usual working visits, Prabowo will not stay long abroad. He has to quickly fly home to welcome Jordanian King Abdullah II later this week.

Official statistics showed that Indonesia-Australia trade totaled nearly $9.7 billion between January and September 2025. About $124.9 million were Australia’s dairy shipments to the Southeast Asian country. Indonesia also imported $394.7 million of live animals, and $332.1 million in animal meat. Some $1 billion of those imports were cereals, particularly wheat.

Indonesia and Australia have enjoyed eased tariff barriers when doing business with one another, thanks to a free trade agreement that took effect on July 2020. The trade deal will be up for a general review soon.

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