In a statement here on Wednesday, Cooperatives Minister Budi Arie Setiadi stated that synchronizing village data is the initial step that village cooperatives can utilize to explore and develop.
"The Red and White Village Cooperatives can have a real social impact, such as reducing poverty, cutting long distribution chains, and others," he remarked.
Furthermore, Setiadi affirmed that his ministry and BPS will conduct an in-depth study on synchronizing village data throughout Indonesia, including the poverty conditions in each village, which cooperative managers can use to design the direction of their businesses.
Deputy Minister of Cooperatives Ferry Juliantono assessed that village cooperatives greatly need village profiles to identify development potentials, including distributing various government-subsidized strategic commodities to ensure their accuracy.
Meanwhile, BPS Head Amalia Adininggar Widyasanti emphasized that BPS already holds important data on the national village profile, including village-level poverty statistics.
According to BPS data, as of March 2025, the number of people living in poverty in Indonesia stood at 23.85 million, down from 24.06 million in September 2024.
Those living in extreme poverty numbered 2.38 million, a decrease of 0.40 million compared to March 2024.
"With the cooperative data flowing in, we will be able to record how much the Red and White Village Cooperatives contribute to national economic growth," Widyasanti noted.
President Prabowo Subianto officially launched around 80 thousand village cooperatives nationwide under the Red and White Village Cooperatives program in Klaten District, Central Java, on July 21.
The cooperatives are envisaged as hubs of economic and social services in village communities, offering savings, loans, and clinic services, among others.
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Translator: Arnidhya Nur, Raka Adji
Editor: Primayanti
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