Encouraging Village Economic Independence, BRI Facilitates Cooperative Financing

JAKARTA PT Bank Rakyat Indonesia (Persero) Tbk (BRI) fully supports the initiative to establish the Red and White Village Cooperative as part of Asta Cita Pemerintah in improving the welfare of the community and strengthening the independence of the rural economy.

As is known, the Red and White Village Cooperative is here as a solution to strengthen the rural economic structure while protecting the public from illegal online loan bondage to detrimental moneylender practices.

BRI President Director Hery Gunardi said that this initiative is expected to provide easy access to financing while at the same time encouraging the formation of a healthy, productive, and independent business ecosystem at the village level.

Hery explained that since the KDMP program began to be echoed, BRI has designed a healthy financing model and has the risk of maintaining refunds.

The financing scheme is prepared to adjust the working capital needs based on a business scale (small, medium, or large) and is calculated according to the estimated business turnover.

However, he said, in the field itself there are still several challenges in the management of cooperatives.

Hery revealed that managerial capacity and transparency in financial records are 2 main issues that need to be addressed immediately in developing cooperatives.

According to him, to answer these challenges BRI will optimize the role of BUMN House and BRILiaN Village as the home of business assistance incubators.

Hery conveyed that through these two programs, cooperative management will be accompanied in compiling business bookkeeping, managing cash flow, and implementing more professional governance.

Furthermore, he said that apart from strengthening the institutional foundation of cooperatives, BRI also continues to encourage cooperatives that have local product potential to expand their market reach.

"Banks not only provide access to financing, but can also diverge existing businesses. For example, in their village they have the production of handicrafts or specific products that they want to export, BRI can facilitate through a business matching mechanism," said Hery.

Hery also added, as part of strengthening the KDMP ecosystem, BRI maximizes the role of AgentBRILink, which has now spread over 1.2 million points throughout Indonesia.

According to him, through the BRILink Agent service, cooperatives can run various financial transactions, such as deposits and cash withdrawals, top-ups, bill payments, to installments.

He conveyed that this service will make it easier for the public to access financial services more closely, cheaply, and inclusively.