Menkop Ensures The Red And White Kopdes Will Not Displace The Existence Of BUMDes

Minister of Cooperatives (Menkop) Budi Arie Setiadi. (Photo: Doc. Kemenkop)

Minister of Cooperatives (Menkop) Budi Arie Setiadi ensured that the plan to form 80,000 Red and White Village Cooperatives (Kopdes) would be a stimulus for village governments to improve the standard of living of rural communities.

Even the existence of the Red and White Kopdes will actually be a complement to the existence of Village-Owned Enterprises (BUMDes) in the context of the village government accelerating the program to improve the welfare of the village community.

Budi Arie said that the BUMDes and the Red and White Kopdes will go hand in hand to build the economy in the village so that it continues to develop. According to him, so far there are still many villages that do not yet know the full potential of their villages so that economic development in the village cannot be maximized.

According to him, BUMDes as a village-owned institution and Kopdes as a business entity owned by the village community will work together to jointly explore the village's potential to be used as the basic capital for village development.

"In terms of ownership, it is different (between BUMDes and Kopdes), so later we hope that the Kopdes which belongs to the community can work hand in hand to build the people's economy through this cooperative (Kopdes Merah Putih)," said Budi Arie, Monday, March 24.

Budi said he was optimistic that close cooperation between the central government and local governments, especially village-level governments, the vision to enlarge BUMDes and Kopdes' efforts could run well. It is hoped that these two entities can jointly play a role in improving the community's economy and reducing extreme poverty that occurs in the village.

"Each village has its own uniqueness, what is certain is that the Kopdes aims to cut the extreme poverty chain in the village, eradicate the tengkulak or moneylenders and borrowers who are suffering the people of the village," said Budi Arie.

In rough calculations, if out of 80,000 villages there is one Red and White Kopdes with managed funds of up to IDR 5 billion per Kopdes, there will be a very large economic turnover in the village.

This is the reason why the program to form the Red and White Kopdes needs to be realized because villages can become a source of new economic growth.

"Therefore, it is our job to mobilize awareness of villagers to operate, from above (the government) there is already a political will, so from below (the community) there must be enthusiasm (operation)," continued Budi Arie.

In order to accelerate the formation of the Red and White Kopdes, a draft Presidential Instruction (Inpres) has been prepared so that Ministries/Institutions, Non-Ministerial Institutions and local governments to regencies and cities can work together and collaborate more closely. It is targeted that the launching of the Red and White Kopdes can be carried out on July 12, 2025, together with the Commemoration of National Cooperative Day.

"I hope this Kopdes is not only a technocratic approach but must go through a movement, so we ask for support from the Regent in the aspects of data mapping, business potential, risk mitigation and assistance in this program," said Coordinating Minister Budi Arie.

Regarding the financing and budget scheme to take care of the legality of the Red and White Kopdes, Menkop Budi Arie stated that it is still in the stage of more in-depth discussion with related parties such as Himbara Bank and the Ministry of Finance. Technical instructions and Implementation Guidelines are being finalized by the government.

"The funding scheme is being discussed by the government, tomorrow we will be invited by the President to hold a limited meeting. Later we will ask about the completion of this financing scheme," he said.

Meanwhile, the Temporary Official (PJs) of the General Chairperson of the Apkasi Mochamad Nur Arifin stated that Apkasi was committed to the success of the Red and White Kopdes formation program.

In fact, he continued, several regents have stated that there are cooperatives that are ready to transform into the Red and White Kopdes.

"So indeed in the area, the passion is already great, but the step by step for this formation process must be considered because this is very important. The point is we are ready to support," said Nur Arifin.

Regarding the existence of BUMDes, Nur Arifin emphasized that the Red and White Kopdes would actually strengthen each other's role in building the economy of the people in the village.

Both have a very vital role in building village independence so that this Kopdes will help BUMDes to support village economic growth inclusively.

"So these two instruments (BUMDes and Kopdes) will make the village more empowered because both of them are aken walking hand in hand, such as pedaling a bicycle to accelerate the progress of the village," he said.