TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - President Prabowo Subianto will establish the Red and White Village Cooperative (KopDes Merah Putih) in 70,000 to 80,000 villages across Indonesia. The village funds will be used to finance the project.

This decision was made following a limited meeting between the president and several ministers from the Red and White Cabinet at the Merdeka Palace, Jakarta, on Monday, March 3, 2025.

"One of the decisions made was on the formation of Red and White Village Cooperatives, abbreviated as Kopdes Merah Putih. It will be built in 70,000 villages," said Coordinating Minister for Food Affairs Muhammad Zulkifli Hasan, at the Presidential Palace Complex, Central Jakarta, on Monday, March 3.

The National Mandate Party (PAN) chair confirmed that the cooperatives will leverage village funds as well as the state-owned banks association (Himbara) to finance the project. Himbara will provide three to five year installment scheme to ensure optimal operations from the cooperatives. 

"One village is estimated to allocate a budget of up to Rp3–5 billion. We have village funds of Rp1 billion per year, which means Rp5 billion in 5," he said.

He hopes that this cooperative will become the center of economic activities in the village. The cooperative will also be used as a storage and distribution site for the agricultural products of the community.

At the same time, Cooperatives Minister Budi Arie Setiadi stated that in its implementation, Kop Des Merah Putih will be developed through three main approaches. But he has yet to provide further details.

He also added that there are around 64,000 farmer groups ready to migrate into cooperatives to integrate the villages’ agricultural systems and food distribution more effectively.

"The three models are establishing new cooperatives, revitalizing existing cooperatives, and third, building and developing," said Budi Arie.

Budi hopes the cooperatives could break the harmful chain in the distribution of goods between producers and consumers. "So the prices could be cheaper,” he said.

Editor’s Choice: PPATK Discovers Rp677mn Village Funds in North Sumatra Used for Online Gambling

Click here to get the latest news updates from Tempo on Google News