The Ministry of Cooperatives (Kemenkop) encourages cooperative Islamic boarding schools (kopontren) not only to move in the trade sector, but also to start focusing on developing business in the productive sector. The component is also expected to be an initiator for the formation of cooperative holdings by uniting their strengths and potentials in order to be able to solve the economic problems of the people.
Minister of Cooperatives (Menkop) Ferry Juliantono emphasized that the current direction of cooperative policies is in line with the ideals of the nation's founders who want cooperatives to be present in the production, distribution, industry, and credit sectors. Therefore, President Prabowo Subianto initiated the establishment of 80,000 Village/Kelurahan Cooperatives (Kopdes/Kel) Merah Putih as an effort to restore the direction of economic development based on the constitutional mandate.
"Indeed, general policies at the Ministry of Cooperatives are now in line with the wishes of our founding fathers. The cooperative (including the Kopontren) can enter the production, distribution, industry and credit sectors," said Ferry, Thursday, November 27.
According to him, currently the progress of the Kopontren has shown extraordinary developments. Some cooperatives even have assets of trillions of rupiah, are able to penetrate modern markets, to export abroad. He gave an example of a number of Kopontren that have proven successful in running productive business units, such as the Al-Ittifaq Islamic Boarding School Cooperative in Bandung and the Sidogiri Islamic Boarding School Cooperative and others.
The progress of the Kopontren cannot be separated from the participation of the Revolving Fund Management Agency (LPDB) which consistently provides assistance and provides financial support.
The Coordinating Minister hopes that through the Socialization and Bimtek activities initiated by the LPDB, more and more components will start running their business in the productive sector so that they can provide a larger multiplier effect for the economy of the people and the surrounding community.
"Hopefully in Bimtek we will discuss how to make a larger holding force for us to unite all potential forces in all Islamic boarding school cooperatives," he said.
Although currently the potential for the development of the Kopontren to run a business in the productive sector is very large, there are still a number of homeworks that need to be considered. The Ministry of Cooperative data shows that from 2,347 active Kopontren, only 668 cooperatives or about 28.5 percent reported the Annual Member Meeting (RAT). Whereas RAT is one of the most important instruments for cooperatives to run and develop all their business activities.
"This is our common record for how we make improvements so that pesantren cooperatives have a healthy institutional foundation before entering the business expansion stage," he said.
The Coordinating Minister is optimistic that the Kopontren can become a national supply chain motorcycle. With the support of the LPDB, the Kopontren is expected to be able to strengthen its position as a pillar of the national economy. The government targets cooperatives not only to become a savings and loan platform, but also a production and distribution center.
"The government will encourage this Islamic boarding school cooperative to enter sectors that we have considered unable to afford," said Ferry.
Ferry again reminded that the government is strongly committed to returning the direction of national economic development in the future based on constitutional principles. It was emphasized that President Prabowo Subianto was committed to restoring the role of the state in managing the market and refusing to leave it entirely to the free market mechanism.
"Pak Prabowo wants to re-place the role of the state to regulate the market, so that it is not left to the free market mechanism but is also re-regulated by the state so that it becomes more fair and equitable," he said.
Meanwhile, LPDB General Director and Law Deva Rahman emphasized that his institution had distributed large financing to support sharia cooperatives, including the Kopontren. From 2020 to October 2025, the total revolving funds reached IDR 4.5 trillion.
SEE ALSO:
"LPDB Cooperatives in the field of empowerment and distribution of savings skims from 2020 to the end of October 2025 have rolled out as much as IDR 4.5 trillion with the distribution of savings and loan skims of IDR 3.2 trillion and the real sector of IDR 1.3 trillion," he said.
He emphasized that strengthening the pesantren economy through socialization and technical guidance (Bimtek) is not just a program, but a big strategy for the economic empowerment of the people. According to him, pesantren since the struggle period have played an important role in advancing the community's economy.
Deva said, LPDB also provides understanding of cooperative regulations, prerequisites for financing, as well as relevant and productive business models for pesantren. This is expected to increase the capacity of cooperative management in a modern manner.
"The implementation of the socialization of Bimtek today is not only a gathering but an increase in the capacity of Islamic boarding schools in the formation of cooperatives, providing understanding of LPDB financing regulations and prerequisites," said Deva.
The English, Chinese, Japanese, Arabic, and French versions are automatically generated by the AI. So there may still be inaccuracies in translating, please always see Indonesian as our main language. (system supported by DigitalSiber.id)
