Indonesia readies three formation scenarios for village cooperatives

Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Indonesian government has announced three scenarios for the establishment of 80 thousand cooperatives across the country under the Red and White Village Cooperatives program.

At a press conference in Jakarta on Tuesday, Deputy Minister of Agriculture Sudaryono highlighted that one of the scenarios involves forming entirely new business entities and labelling them as Red and White Village Cooperatives.

Sudaryono further explained that both the second and third scenarios focus on converting existing cooperatives into the program's desired cooperative model.

He noted that under the second scenario, the government plans to identify well-performing cooperatives and directly rebrand them as Red and White Village Cooperatives.

Sudaryono elaborated that the third scenario would involve revitalizing dormant cooperatives before transforming them into new, empowered business entities under the program.

The deputy minister then assured the public that in developing such cooperatives, the government would consider the voices of rural residents and their leaders and ensure their active participation to align the cooperatives' business models with the unique characteristics of each village.

He also highlighted that some villages had begun disseminating information on the program and organizing discussions regarding forming these cooperatives.

Furthermore, he emphasized that the central government would continue monitoring villages to assess their progress in program preparation.

The Indonesian government has set a target of establishing 80 thousand cooperatives in rural regions across the country by launching the Red and White Village Cooperatives program on July 12, 2025, coinciding with National Cooperatives Day.

Earlier, on Monday (April 21), Cooperatives Minister Budi Arie Setiadi underscored that the budget required for realizing the target was estimated at Rp400 trillion (nearly US$24 billion).

He also highlighted that each cooperative could potentially earn up to Rp1 billion annually, provided these ventures are led by skilled management.

Furthermore, the minister noted that the planned cooperatives are expected to empower approximately 1.6 million people.