Jakarta. The United Arab Emirates or UAE is open for discussions if President Prabowo Subianto wishes to work with the Middle Eastern country on his ambitious plan of giving school children free meals, according to an Emirati diplomat.

Starting in January, the Prabowo government will begin distributing free school lunches to improve Indonesian children’s nutrition. The government has even allocated Rp 71 trillion (approximately $4.5 billion) to support the program throughout next year. As preparations are underway for this free meals drive, UAE Ambassador to Indonesia Abdulla Salem AlDhaheri recently said that his country was open to exploring any potential cooperation.

“The UAE has one such program under the UAE Vice President and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum’s foundation. He has a similar program to what Prabowo intends to fulfill. We can discuss those areas of cooperation and see the opportunities,” AlDhaheri told reporters on the sidelines of a reception dinner in Jakarta on Wednesday.

The envoy was referring to the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiatives (MBRGI).

The philanthropic foundation runs the 1 Billion Meals Endowment campaign. This campaign -- worth 1 billion UAE dirham (almost $272.3 million) -- aims to provide food aid to the world’s underprivileged populations. The campaign is also an expansion of the UAE’s past smaller-scale campaigns which saw the distribution of food donations during Ramadan. The MBRGI reported that it had collected almost 1.1 billion UAE dirham in donations for the meals endowment program throughout 2023.

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