According to the ministry's Deputy for Coordination of Villages, Disadvantaged Regions, and Certain Regions' Community Empowerment, Abdul Haris, the collaboration is the key to success amid unpredictable dynamics and changes like today.
"These two village economic entities' collaboration has strategic value to encourage local economic growth, job creation, and improve the welfare of village communities," he said in his statement in Jakarta on Friday.
Furthermore, he deemed the collaboration strategic because the village cooperatives are a priority program of President Prabowo Subianto, and BUMDes have been operating for the past 10 years in more than 68,000 villages.
Haris emphasized the need for all parties, including universities, to assist in this collaboration.
"Universities can provide support in the form of capacity building to apply new knowledge through various forms of training, community service programs, research, and assistance," he remarked.
He also expected support from state-owned enterprises and the private sector to support the collaboration between the village cooperatives and BUMDes, such as in the form of financing access and standardized financial management skills.
The support, he said, will help accelerate the increase in the cooperatives and BUMDes' productivity.
Apart from that, he emphasized that the collaboration must continue to encourage the realization of village economic institutions that are more adaptive to digital disruption, climate change, and the trends of the green economy.
The Indonesian government’s target of forming 80 thousand Red and White Village Cooperatives has been achieved. As of Monday (June 16), 80,002 village cooperatives have been established in the country.
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Translator: Rio Feisal, Raka Adji
Editor: Azis Kurmala
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