Kemenkop Collaborates With Perum Bulog To Absorb Cooperative Commodities

The Ministry of Cooperatives (KemenKop) and Perum Bulog plan to synergize and cooperate related to the absorption of food commodities managed by cooperatives.

Later, food products produced by cooperatives such as rice, corn, meat, soybeans and others will be absorbed by Perum Bulog.

Minister of Cooperatives (MenKop) Budi Arie Setiadi explained that this cooperation plan will soon be confirmed through the signing of a memorandum of Understanding (MoU) which will be carried out in the near future. It is hoped that the cooperation agreement will continue to grow and on the other hand, the availability of food in the market will be maintained.

"So, the involvement of cooperatives in this cooperation is also expected to increase the enthusiasm of the community to operate," said Budi Arie Setiadi, Thursday, October 31.

Budi said the cooperatives that will be involved in this collaboration are cooperatives engaged in the food sector and several Village Unit Cooperatives (KUD) that will be revitalized.

With Perum Bulog's resources, the number of warehouses reaching 1,596 units and spread across various regions in Indonesia will make it easier for cooperatives in the regions to synergize.

"Later we will see healthy cooperatives and those engaged in the food sector to be involved in this cooperation," said Budi.

Through this collaboration, it is believed that it will encourage the improvement of the welfare of cooperative members. Indirect cooperatives can also act as food price stabilizers in markets that often experience fluctuations.

"We are technically discussing it more deeply, what is important is how to ensure affordability, availability and price stabilization because it must not be volatile, sorry for the people," said the Minister of Cooperatives.

Budi Arie also underlined that the involvement of cooperatives in building this food ecosystem is how to restore the level of public trust in cooperatives. It is undeniable that there are several cooperatives that are mismanaged by the management, triggering a decrease in the level of public trust in cooperatives.

"So in this collaboration cooperatives must be profitable but must not be fictitious, markup, and must not be deceived. We are aware that cooperatives are a good tool to increase it (profit). This is our opportunity to restore public trust," said Budi.

At the same place, the President Director of Perum Bulog Wahyu Suparyono believes that the cooperation scheme that will be carried out will provide benefits for both parties. With a warehouse capacity of 4 million tons, Perum Bulog will be able to absorb many commodities from cooperative farmers.

"Through this collaboration, we want to be mutually beneficial, so the economic turnover in the cooperative will move. Bulog does not move alone and here there is a cooperative so that it controls each other," said Wahyu.

Wahyu ensured that as an institution that was mandated to absorb commodities from farmers, Perum Bulog committed to continuing to maximize opportunities to keep commodity selling prices at the farmer level above market prices. With better price guarantees, it is hoped that it can encourage farmers' welfare.

"So if BUMN (Perum Bulog) has collaborated with the Ministry of Cooperatives, it will be extraordinary. Now the concept of cooperation has been completed," he said.