KUD Parent Cooperates With Foreign Oil And Gas Companies, Disburses IDR 501.4 Billion Investment

Annual Member Meeting (RAT) of the Indonesian KUD Main XLV for the 2024 Fiscal Year in Jakarta. Photo: Doc. Kemenkop

The Ministry of Cooperatives (Kemenkop) appreciates the Parent of the Village Unit Cooperative (InkUD) in collaboration with foreign oil and gas sector companies, namely PT Ellips Group (Uzbekistan) and the Hong Kong Engineering Co. Ltd.

This collaboration is a historic milestone, because it is the first breakthrough for Indonesian cooperatives to partner with international oil and gas companies. The investment value reached 30 million US dollars or around Rp. 501.4 billion (assuming an exchange rate of Rp. 16,714).

The signing of the MoU was witnessed by the Deputy for Institution and Digitization of the Ministry of Cooperatives, Hendra Saragih, who in this case represented the Minister of Cooperatives in the 2024 Indonesian KUD Main Membership Meeting (RAT) in Jakarta, today.

"This cooperation further proves that cooperatives can manage and conduct businesses in all sectors, including oil and gas mining exploration. Moreover, it has been supported by the new Minerba Law and PP 39/2025," said Hendra in his official statement, Wednesday, November 5.

According to Hendra, the Inkud move shows that Indonesian cooperatives are no longer limited to the conventional sector. Cooperatives can advance to class and become important players in strategic sectors such as energy.

He added that the cooperation is in line with the direction of government policies to expand the role of cooperatives in national industrialization and energy independence.

"We at the Kemenkop fully support this progressive step. InKUD has proven that cooperatives are able to partner with global companies and play a role in national energy development," he said.

Moreover, he said, currently cooperative business entities have been able to manage the mineral and coal mining sector (minerba), including people's mines.

The reason is, Government Regulation (PP) Number 39 of 2025 has been released by the government, namely regarding the second amendment to PP Number 96/2021 concerning the Implementation of Minerba Mining Business Activities.

Meanwhile, the General Chairperson of InKUD Portasius Nggedi explained, in the early stages, his party together with partners will participate in the oil and gas exploration tender in the Jambi region in 2026, focusing on community-based sustainable exploration.

"InkUD will also play an active role in the provision of local workers, which is believed to have a significant impact on the regional economy," he explained.

Portasius emphasized that this collaboration is not just a business project, but part of the big vision of empowering the people's economy.

"We want to show that cooperatives are capable of becoming the backbone of a modern economy. Through this collaboration, there will be technology transfer, increasing human resource capacity and strengthening the economy at the grassroots level," he explained.