Ministry of Home Affairs Reveals 4 Steps to Form Red and White Village Cooperatives in More Than 80 Thousand Villages/Sub-districts

Deputy Minister of Home Affairs Bima Arya Sugiarto in the Socialization of Presidential Instruction Number 9 of 2025 concerning the Acceleration of the Establishment of Red and White Villages Cooperatives which took place in the Main Meeting Room of the Coordinating Ministry for Food Affairs Office, Jakarta, Tuesday (15/4/2025). (ANTARA)

JAKARTA - Deputy Minister of Home Affairs (Wamendagri) Bima Arya Sugiarto emphasized four strategic steps of the Ministry of Home Affairs (Kemendagri) in supporting the establishment of the Merah Putih Village Cooperative (Kopdes).

He conveyed this in a follow-up event to the Socialization of Presidential Instruction (Inpres) Number 9 of 2025 concerning the Acceleration of the Establishment of the Merah Putih Village/Sub-District Cooperative which took place in the Main Meeting Room of the Coordinating Ministry (Kemenko) Office for Food, Jakarta, Tuesday, April 15.

"In essence, there are four portions of the Ministry of Home Affairs that are encouraged by the Minister to be coordinated with all regional heads in Indonesia," said Bima in his statement in Jakarta, Tuesday, April 15, as quoted by Antara.

The first step, the Ministry of Home Affairs will maximize coordination with all governors, regents, and mayors to facilitate the establishment of cooperatives in more than 80 thousand villages and sub-districts.

Second, through the Directorate General (Ditjen) of Village Government Development (Pemdes), the Ministry of Home Affairs will provide technical assistance in the formation of cooperatives at the village level.

"In accordance with the expectations of the Coordinating Minister [of Food], we will accelerate the formation of prototypes. So we choose several potential champions who are ready, just like MBG," he said.

The third step is to ensure that the village cooperative program is integrated into regional development planning documents, such as the Regional Government Work Plan (RKPD) and the Regional Medium-Term Development Plan (RPJMD).

"We encourage this to be aligned, included there so that there is a basis," said Bima.

Fourth, the Ministry of Home Affairs will carry out a supervisory function so that regional policies remain on track and in accordance with the target of establishing village cooperatives.

In addition to outlining strategic steps, Bima also highlighted the great potential of the cooperative sector in Indonesia. Currently, there are more than 51,505 cooperatives that have existed, with details of around 5,297 being Village Unit Cooperatives (KUD), while the rest are non-KUD cooperatives such as savings and loan cooperatives, as well as small industry and people's craft cooperatives.

"This is a potential that we must identify again, which is active and which is not," he explained.

Regarding regulations, Bima said that the Ministry of Home Affairs is currently preparing a template for Regional Head Regulations (Perkada) as a technical guide for the formation of cooperatives. This Perkada will cover the scope, working mechanism, legal basis, and the role of related regional apparatuses, including aspects of supervision and funding.

The Ministry of Home Affairs will also issue a circular as a guide for the use of the budget from Unexpected Expenditures (BTT), and ensure that the entire process is integrated in regional planning and budgeting documents.

"Well, I think that's it, Mr. Minister, then we are ready to go full throttle to create piloting at several points as a model for the initial planning for the establishment of the Merah Putih Village Cooperative," said Bima.

For information, this event was led by the Coordinating Minister (Menko) for Food Zulkifli Hasan, and attended by the Deputy Minister of Villages and Development of Disadvantaged Regions (Wamendes PDT) Ahmad Riza Patria, Deputy Minister of Cooperatives (Wamenkop) Ferry Juliantono, and Deputy Minister of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Didit Herdiawan.

In addition, also present were Deputy Minister of Health (Wamenkes) Dante Saksono Harbuwono, and Acting Deputy for Finance and Risk Management of the Ministry of SOEs Dwi Ary Purnomo. The socialization was also attended by village heads from all over Indonesia virtually.