Juliantono emphasized that village and city communities are a strong potential base for cooperative membership.
"They have the right to establish cooperatives for any purpose, including community development," he said in a statement on Monday.
He made the remarks during the City and Village Exhibition Festival and the launch of a Housing Cooperative Model in Yogyakarta on Sunday.
The Ministry of Cooperatives, he said, will work closely with the Ministry of Housing to realize this initiative.
Through a cooperative approach, communities can manage the entire housing process from land acquisition and construction to long-term management.
"This new model can help address issues in land procurement, housing development, and community governance," he explained.
To support the initiative, the ministry is committed to providing guidance and improving the capacity of cooperative administrators and managers.
Juliantono also noted that the ministry's Revolving Fund Management Institution (LPDB) is ready to finance housing cooperatives established by community groups.
He underlined that housing cooperatives can go beyond being developers by playing a role across the housing supply chain —managing raw materials, employing local labor, and implementing a collective financing scheme based on mutual cooperation.
One example is in Menteng, Jakarta, where residents developed a housing project through a cooperative. In this case, the cooperative holds the Building Use Rights (HGB) certificate, while construction costs were agreed upon transparently by members through a mandatory savings system.
"This is an alternative solution amid rising land and housing prices," he said.
On the regulatory side, Juliantono said his ministry will review existing policies and work with the Ministry of Housing and Settlements to operationalize the cooperative housing model.
He urged all levels of society — cooperative activists, community groups, and local governments — to strengthen the role of housing cooperatives as a pillar of people-centered development.
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Translator: Shofi Ayudiana, Martha Herlinawati Simanjuntak
Editor: Anton Santoso
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