Jakarta (ANTARA) - Cooperatives Minister Budi Arie Setiadi announced that the government is targeting the establishment of 80 thousand Red and White Village Cooperatives by the end of June 2025.

"The target is that by the end of June, 80 thousand Red and White Village Cooperatives will have been established across Indonesia," he told the press in Jakarta on Thursday.

He expressed optimism that the institutional legality of those cooperatives can be completed before the start of the second semester of 2025.

The minister said that 52 thousand villages in Indonesia currently lack cooperatives, while 32 thousand villages already operate them.

He further noted that those cooperatives will be reviewed to be transformed into Red and White Village Cooperatives.

Setiadi also highlighted that the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) will oversee savings and loan matters, providing additional assistance to the cooperatives.

Earlier, Coordinating Minister for Food Zulkifli Hasan expressed readiness to form an executive task force to expedite the implementation of the Red and White Village Cooperatives program.

President Prabowo Subianto has issued Presidential Instruction Number 9 of 2025 on accelerating the formation of Red and White Village Cooperatives.

This Red and White Village Cooperative program aims to strengthen food self-sufficiency, promote economic equality, and develop independent villages toward realizing the Golden Indonesia 2045 vision.

Red and White Cooperatives are also envisioned as hubs of economic and social services for village communities. These include affordable basic food services, savings and loans, village clinics and pharmacies, cold storage for agricultural and fishery products, and logistics distribution.

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Translator: Maria Cicilia, Raka Adji
Editor: Azis Kurmala
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