Hashim said he would raise several issues during the summit, including accusations of environmental degradation leveled against the food properties programme.

“(I will) also refute several (reports) of deforestation allegations that have made the food properties program appear destructive. The Indonesian government does not agree with those (allegations). “We can establish food plantations while protecting the environment,” he said in Jakarta on Thursday, as reported Detik Finance.

Indonesia is planning for Papua to play a key role in the national food programme. Last month, Coordinating Minister of Food Zulkifli Hasan announced a five-year plan to develop 2 million hectares of rice fields in the Papua region to achieve food self-sufficiency, a key policy goal of President Prabowo.

The project marks a change in the geographical focus of the government’s food production plans, which previously revolved around the development of large-scale plantations on the islands of Sumatra and Borneo, but now focus on the eastern part of the country .

Also read: New chief minister hopes Papua will achieve food self-sufficiency

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Hashim will lead around 570 delegates, representing President Prabowo, who will attend the G20 Rio de Janeiro summit in Brazil. The President will also attend the APEC Leaders Meeting in Lima, Peru.