Indonesia's Prabowo: Cooperatives are the people's economy, driving growth from villages

Indonesian Coordinating Minister for Community Empowerment Abdul Muhaimin Iskandar underscored the vital role of cooperatives in empowering communities and bolstering the national economy. Speaking at the 79th National Cooperatives Day celebration in Jakarta, Iskandar stated that cooperatives are more than just business entities; they are crucial instruments for facilitating access to finance, strengthening local businesses, adding value to local products, and expanding economic opportunities down to the village level.

Themed "Empowered Cooperatives, Victorious Indonesia," the event served as a platform to reaffirm cooperatives as a pillar of the people's economy. Iskandar expressed confidence that through mutual cooperation and collaboration, strengthening cooperatives would lead to a more independent, productive, and prosperous society. The Ministry of Community Empowerment is committed to enhancing inter-ministerial synergy and collaboration with various stakeholders to ensure cooperative development aligns with poverty alleviation, welfare improvement, and local economic development programs.

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With the spirit of gotong royong and collaboration, strengthening cooperatives is expected to create a society that is increasingly independent, productive, and prosperous.

President Prabowo Subianto, also present, declared cooperatives as the embodiment of the people's economy envisioned by Indonesia's founders. He stressed that economic development must be rooted in the spirit of kinship and mutual cooperation, as mandated by the 1945 Constitution. "Cooperatives are the tool of the weak, the tool of the poor," Prabowo stated passionately, comparing individual members to weak palm leaves but a united cooperative to a strong broomstick. He assured that the Indonesian cooperative movement would rise to become a significant economic force.

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Cooperatives are the tool of the weak. The tool of the poor, but like a broomstick, one stick is weak. But when joined, that is strength. Don't worry, the Indonesian cooperative movement will rise to become Indonesia's economic strength.

Prabowo clarified that strengthening cooperatives does not mean weakening other economic actors. Instead, the government aims to foster a mutually reinforcing national economic ecosystem that includes cooperatives, MSMEs, the private sector, state-owned enterprises (BUMN), and regional-owned enterprises (BUMD). He further emphasized that economic growth should originate from villages, ensuring development benefits are distributed evenly. "Our economy will rise from the villages, sub-districts, and regencies, and the money will stay in the villages, sub-districts, and regencies," he asserted, aiming to reverse the trend of national wealth being siphoned off.

As part of this strategy, the government is establishing Koperasi Desa/Kelurahan Merah Putih (KDKMP) across all villages and sub-districts. These cooperatives are envisioned as service centers to drive the "Red and White Village Economy Strategy," ensuring economic progress benefits local communities directly.

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Our economy will rise from the village, sub-district, regency, and the money will stay in the village, sub-district, regency. We will reverse it. If all this time the wealth of the Indonesian people has been siphoned off, we will return it now, the economy will flow down to the people.