Prabowo at WEF: Number of MBG recipients will exceed McDonald's production

JAKARTA - President Prabowo Subianto, while speaking at the 2026 Davos Annual Meeting, World Economic Forum (WEF), believes that the number of recipients of free nutritious meals (MBG) will exceed the number of food produced by one of the world's largest fast-food chains, McDonald's (McD).

In front of the heads of state, world economists, academics and practitioners, President Prabowo explained that the Indonesian government is currently investing in MBG and human resource development (HRD) programs, because Indonesia can become a developed country when its people are prosperous and prosperous.

"January 6, 2025, we started (MBG) with 190 kitchens serving 570,000 people per day, 570,000 meals per day. Today, within a year, the number of kitchens has reached 21,102 units, and serves (MBG) the entire country. Until last night, we produced 59.8 million meals for 58.9 million children, pregnant and lactating mothers, and elderly people (elderly) who live alone. They receive this food every day," said President Prabowo when giving a special speech (special address) at the Annual Meeting Davos, WEF 2026, in the city of Davos, Switzerland, Thursday, January 22, reported ANTARA.

"To give you an idea, in about a month we will surpass McDonald's (with) 68 million servings per day," he continued.

The President then explained that McDonald's started operating by building its first fast food restaurant in the 1940s. "To reach 68 million servings per day, they need (time) about 55 years," said Prabowo.

Not enough to surpass the world's most famous fast food restaurant, the President targets to provide free nutritious food for 82.9 million servings per day by the end of December 2026. However, Prabowo said his ministers were optimistic that the target would be achieved before December.

"My staff said: Sir, we can reach 82.9 million before December. So, I hope, we can reach this target," said the President.

At the same event, President Prabowo explained the economic impact of the MBG program, which among others opened up more than 600,000 new jobs and provided new income for 61,000 micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in various regions of Indonesia.

"At the peak, we are optimistic that 1.5 million new jobs will be created, with vendors, suppliers, there will be more than one million families who will be helped. Therefore, I am confident that our economic growth will grow significantly," said Prabowo.

President Prabowo gave a speech, especially at the Congress Hall, which is the main location of the 2026 World Economic Forum event. On the same stage, other heads of state also gave special speeches, including US President Donald J. Trump, and French President Emmanuel Macron.

At the Congress Hall, Thursday afternoon, the time of Davos, a number of ministers from the Red and White Cabinet, were also present to listen directly to the special speech from President Prabowo, including the Cabinet Secretary (Seskab) Teddy Indra Wijaya, Foreign Minister Sugiono, Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto, Minister of Investment and Industrialization/CEO Danantara Rosan Perkasa Roeslani, Minister of Communication and Digital Meutya Hafid.

Furthermore, Deputy Minister of Finance Thomas Djiwandono, Deputy Chairman of Commission I of the House of Representatives, Budisatrio Djiwandono, and there is also the General Chairman of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) Anindya Novyan Bakrieserta Chairman of the Indonesian Kadin Advisory Board Arsjad Rasjid.