ietnam’s TH Group has announced plans to invest in a 10,000-hectare dairy project in Napu Valley of Poso, Central Sulawesi, with the foreign conglomerate aiming to produce up to 1.8 million tonnes of milk per year, according to the Agriculture Ministry.
“This target reflects a boost in local production capacity through this investment, not through milk imports,” the ministry’s public relations head Arief Cahyono said on Sunday, as quoted by Tempo.co.
He added that the project would include a processing facility to support the ambitious target to achieve full-capacity production in three to five years.
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Arief said the investment aligned with government efforts to increase domestic milk production and reduce dependency on imports, currently at 3.7 million tonnes a year.
Meanwhile, domestic dairy companies supply only around 900,000 liters of milk annually, according to 2022 data from the ministry.
The massive shortfall poses a challenge for implementing President Prabowo Subianto’s free nutritious meal program, which would require large volumes of milk as well as other foodstuffs, most of which is to be sourced locally.