Prabowo Emphasizes Commitment to Overcome Stunting and Economic Growth

President Prabowo Subianto attends a Business Summit roundtable session during his working visit to Washington DC, United States, on Wednesday (18/2/2026). (ANTARA/HO-Presidential Secretariat)

JAKARTA - President Prabowo Subianto emphasized his government's commitment to accelerating human resource development, overcoming bottlenecks, and strengthening inclusive economic growth.

The President conveyed his experience going directly to villages to open his eyes to the condition of children who are stunted.

"I asked their ages and the children who I thought were four, five, six years old, turned out to be ten, eleven, twelve years old. Then I found out that 25 percent of our children are stunted, stunted growth," said the President in his remarks at the Business Summit in the framework of his working visit to Washington DC, United States, on Wednesday (18/2) local time reported by ANTARA.

To overcome this problem, President Prabowo said the government was saving money through state spending efficiency and cutting unproductive and prone to abuse spending, then allocating it back to priority programs.

"This is what I use to reallocate funds to these programs. So, I am accused of being wasteful, and so on. No, no, this is the reallocation of resources," he said.

President Prabowo explained that one of the main programs was the provision of free nutritious meals for children, which had received international recognition.

He added, the Rockefeller Institute has conducted research and assessed the policy as the best investment.

"Every dollar spent on free meals for children, according to the Rockefeller Institute, returns at least 7 US dollars, but in the long run it can provide a return of up to 35 times," said President Prabowo.

President Prabowo said the program also created an economic multiplier effect through the opening of employment opportunities and increased demand for agricultural products. In addition, the impact of this policy is also reflected in the surge in domestic consumption.

In front of the leaders of the United States of America, President Prabowo emphasized Indonesia's commitment to maintaining the investment climate and strengthening strategic partnerships.

The President also invited the United States business world to make Indonesia a long-term strategic partner.

"This should be a win-win situation and everyone benefits. With benefits, prosperity will be created. That is the lesson I learned from history. Prosperity comes from good governance, clean government. Prosperity comes from stability," he continued.