The Red And White Cooperative Will Become An Offtaker For Superior Products From The Community

Deputy Minister of Cooperatives (Wamenkop) Ferry Juliantono (Ministry of Cooperatives)

JAKARTA - Deputy Minister of Cooperatives (Wamenkop) Ferry Juliantono emphasized that the existence of the Red and White Village/Sub-District Cooperative (Kopdes/Kel) will function as an offtaker of the products of the village community, such as handicraft and culinary products, food products, holticulture, plantations, fisheries, and so on.

"In fact, it is expected to be at the forefront in order to make the national food and energy security program a success," he said in his statement, quoted on Sunday, August 10.

Ferry said that the plan to implement more than 80 thousand Kopdes/Kel Merah Putih, in addition to helping distribute the products owned by SOEs and others, could also be used to distribute programs from the government.

He added that many of the Kopdes/Kel Merah Putih who were tested were guided by the existence of relatively advanced Kopontren-Kopontren, such as in East Java (Kopontren Sunan Drajat and Sidogiri) and West Java (Kopontren At-Ittifaq).

"The component provides assistance and guidance to the Red and White Kopdes/Kel who will enter this operational stage. That includes sharia financing cooperatives," he said.

According to him, there is a relevance between the existence of the Kopdes/Kel Merah Putih and the relatively advanced ecosystem managed by the Kopontren and Kopsyah.

"Hopefully, there will be an ecosystem that will return cooperatives to economic power in accordance with the mandate of the 1945 Constitution Article 33 which is always echoed by the President," he said.

Ferry explained that if the cooperative progresses, the economy of the people and the people will also progress. Because cooperatives are business entities belonging to members who are very different from corporations.

"The purpose of the Kopdes/Kel Merah Putih is to erode the practice of moneylenders, middlemen, and online loans. So that people have alternatives, they are no longer trapped in such practices that are very high-interesting," he said.

He emphasized that the MUI had issued an illicit fatwa for the practice of moneylenders, middlemen, and so on. "We implement it through the Red and White Kopdes/Kel," he said.

In the future, Ferry conveyed that the Ministry of Cooperatives together with the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) and the Indonesian Mosque Council (DMI) will continue to encourage the existence of mosque cooperatives to be able to help the community around the mosque.

"The Mustahik beneficiaries of the mosque, we can increase them to become micro-enterprises by operating," he explained.

Ferry added that currently cooperatives are not only savings, but can also enter the production, distribution, industry, and credit cooperative sectors to help finance the community and the people.

Therefore, the Deputy Minister of Cooperatives hopes for support from MUI and DMI to contribute to the success of the Red and White Kopdes/Kel in alleviating poverty in Indonesia. "This includes improving the village data system which is more accurate and precise," said the Deputy Minister of Cooperatives.