"Cooperatives should also serve as a means of learning for their members," he said in his address to the commemoration of the 71st National Cooperatives Day at the Indonesia Convention Exhibition of Bumi Serpong Damai (ICE BSD) in Jakarta`s southwestern outskirts on Thursday.
Through cooperatives, their members can learn marketing, management, production and so on, he said.
Cooperatives are the most appropriate means of learning for their members, he said.
"It is the mutual-help economic system that we will continue to develop," he said.
He wanted cooperatives to gather and disseminate scientific materials and latest information among their members as well as to develop new skills for them.
The president himself has strong commitment to encourage the development of cooperatives in the country.
To that end, the government has slashed the annual income tax rate for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to 0.5 percent from 1 percent previously.
"Why do I lower the annual income tax rate from 1 percent to 0.5 percent? This is because whenever I meet owners of cooperatives and SMEs they complain about the tax rate. We have lowered it so they can pay tax," he said.
On the occasion, the president also bestowed awards upon several figures in recognition of their services and visited an expo which displays a wide range of products from Indonesian cooperatives.
The president was accompanied by a number of top officials including Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Darmin Nasution, Minister of Cooperatives and Small and Medium Enterprises Puspayoga and Chief of the Indonesian Cooperatives Council (Dekopin) Nurdin Halid.
Reported by Hanni Sofia
(T.S012/B/KR-BSR/S012)
Reporter: antara
Editor: Heru Purwanto
Copyright © ANTARA 2018
