TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Melinda Gates, wife of Bill Gates who is dubbed by Forbes as the wealthiest person in the world, expressed her appreciation for the non-cash social assistance program crafted by the Indonesian government. Melinda Gates said that other countries could make the policy as an example.
"We learned so much during our visit to Indonesia," Melinda Gates told President Joko Widodo, also known as Jokowi at Halim Perdanakusuma Airport in Jakarta on Thursday, March 23, 2017.
Based on a press release received by Tempo, Melinda Gates had a meeting with President Jokowi before visiting Batam. During the meeting that lasted for 30 minutes, President Jokowi explained about several social assistance programs, namely the Indonesia Smart Card, the Healthy Indonesia Card, and the Family Hope Program. President Jokowi said that the programs are aimed at improving welfare and human resources quality.
"We have also started to utilize banking services," President Jokowi explained.
Melinda Gates, who serves has the co-chair and trustee of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), was accompanied by BMGF CEO Sue Desmond-Hellmann and BMGF policy & government relations lead for South East Asia Hari Menon and BMGF director of financial services for the poor Michael Wiegand.
Also attending the meeting were Coordinating Economic Minister Darmin Nasution, Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati, State Secretary Pratikno, and State-Owned Enterprises Minister Rini Soemarno.
Darmin revealed that the meeting discussed a number of topics related poverty alleviation and inclusive financial.
Sri Mulyani said that Melinda Gates expressed her appreciation for cooperation on dengue fever between Gadjah Mada University and John Hopkin University supported by Gates.
"[The cooperation] is expected to provide benefits not only for Indonesia, but also other countries dealing with the same problem," Sri Mulyani said.
ADITYA BUDIMAN
