BRI Strengthens The Role Of Village Cooperatives And Red And White Villages To Become People's Economic Motors Through Financing Access Acceleration

BRI conducts socialization of the manufacture of business proposals and KDKMP financing. (IST)

SIDOARJO - PT Bank Rakyat Indonesia (Persero) Tbk or BRI as a partner of the government continues to accelerate the strengthening of the Red and White Village and Village Cooperatives (KDKMP). Most recently, BRI participated in the 'Socialization of the Making of Business and Financing Proposals for KDKMP'. This activity is a forum to increase the capacity of cooperative administrators to be better prepared to access financing as well as manage institutions professionally.

The event was attended by the Deputy Minister of SOEs of the Republic of Indonesia Kartiko Wirjoatmodjo, Deputy President Director of BRI Agus Noorsanto, Director of Commercial Banking BRI Alexander Dippo Paris and Deputy Regent of Sidoarjo Mimik Idayana at the Sidoarjo Regency Hall, East Java, Tuesday (9/9/2025). Also present at the event was MD Operational Holding Danantara Setyanto Hantoro and the directors of several SOEs.

In his remarks, Deputy Minister of BUMN Kartiko Wirjoatmodjo explained that this activity was an important step for village cooperatives to be better prepared to manage their business professionally.

He said the government through SOEs would provide captive business opportunities to cooperatives in order to fulfill the basic needs of the community at a reasonable price. "In the future, we hope that cooperatives can work on businesses according to the potential of their respective regions, such as rice milling, ecotourism, and so on," he said.

Furthermore, Kartiko also conveyed that according to the direction of the Task Force (Satgas), the disbursement of financing is targeted to be realized by the end of September or no later than early October 2025. This urgency is getting stronger because the Government continues to encourage KDKMP to become a real and realistic financing breakthrough, with administrators responsible and digitally recorded.

"In the next six months to one year, the focus of the policy will be directed there. Therefore, the village community needs to ensure that this business program is carried out properly before being submitted to state-owned banks," said Tiko.

A similar support was conveyed by BRI Deputy President Director Agus Noorsanto who emphasized the company's commitment to supporting government programs by facilitating KDKMP administrators and village heads in East Java through training in the preparation of business proposals to the mechanism for submitting financing to Himbara banks.

"Of course, in the future we will continue to collaborate with various parties, because this is a shared responsibility for relevant stakeholders to empower the community, including with cooperative agencies in the regions," said Agus Noorsanto.

Meanwhile, Deputy Regent of Sidoarjo Mimik Idayana also expressed his optimism that cooperatives can grow independently and increase people's competitiveness. KDKMP will become the driving force of the people's economy with the support of SOEs and BRI. We hope this activity will be the starting door for cooperatives to strengthen competence and competitiveness in the future. We are sure Sidoarjo will develop rapidly with the presence of the Red and White Village Cooperative," he hoped.

As is known, one form of BRI's real support for the sustainability of KDKMP is through the presence of Agent BRILink, which is now an integral part of cooperative operations. Through the AgentBRILink network, cooperatives can serve various deposit financial transactions and cash withdrawals, bill payments, top-ups, to installments, easily and affordablely for villagers.

The presence of Agent BRILink not only facilitates access to closer and inclusive financial services, but also strengthens the role of cooperatives as local economic centers. It was noted that until the first half of 2025, there were 1.2 million AgentBRILinks spread across more than 67 thousand villages throughout Indonesia, including the 3T (Disadvantaged, Frontier, and Outermost) region.

Meanwhile, the Village/Kelurahan Merah Putih Cooperative (KDKMP) itself was inaugurated directly by the President of the Republic of Indonesia Prabowo Subianto on July 21, 2025, in Bentangan Village, Klaten, Central Java. It is known, as many as 80,081 KDKMP have been formed simultaneously and legally legal to operate in their respective regions.

These cooperatives utilize available village or sub-district assets, including assets that have not previously been utilized, and optimize local economic potential. Thus, KDKMP is expected to be able to strengthen the role of cooperatives as centers of economic activity for independent, productive, and sustainable rural communities. (ADV)