Minister Setiadi urges prudence in Red and White Village Cooperatives

Jakarta (ANTARA) - Cooperatives Minister Budi Arie Setiadi emphasized the importance of adhering to the principles of transparency, accountability, and professionalism in managing cooperatives to be established under the Red and White Village Cooperatives program.

"We must take a prudent approach, and as I have repeatedly said, Red and White Village cooperatives should be run in a transparent, professional, and accountable manner," the minister remarked at his office in Jakarta on Monday (March 24) night.

To this end, Setiadi advocated applying good governance based on strong regulations while ensuring the involvement of locals and the use of digital technology in supervising the operations of these cooperatives.

"We will also oversee these cooperatives using digital systems, which will allow us to detect fraud," he pointed out.

The minister then affirmed that all these steps align with President Prabowo Subianto's objective of designating Red and White Village Cooperatives as catalysts to stimulate rural economies and accelerate the development of rural regions.

In essence, he remarked that the government has been making preparations to initiate the program, with the target of establishing 80 thousand such cooperatives in villages across the country this year.

He also highlighted that the government had declared the program a national priority in the hopes of boosting the living standards of citizens living in Indonesia's numerous rural areas.

The minister elaborated that based on the plan, each village cooperative's design would be tailored to suit its host village's unique strengths, needs, and local wisdom to ensure optimal outcomes from the priority program.

"We should not move hastily because developing Red and White Village Cooperatives goes beyond merely constructing buildings or outlets; it also entails the development of human resources and systems," he pointed out.