By: Silvia AP )*
The government continues to consolidate strategic steps to strengthen the role of Red and White Cooperatives as the spearhead of national economic equality. This effort is not merely a response to the challenges of economic growth that is not yet fully equal, but also part of a long-term vision in building an inclusive, independent, and sustainable people-based economic foundation. In this context, Red and White Cooperatives are not only revived as collective business entities, but also function as the main instrument to encourage community participation in economic activities actively and fairly.
The government continues to pay attention to efforts to achieve economic equality, especially by encouraging equitable growth in various regions through the involvement of cooperatives and local business actors. The government focuses its policies on opening access to productive resources, financing, and markets so that communities in all regions can develop optimally. Through the revitalization and strengthening of Red and White Cooperatives, the government targets to close the gap in inequality, while also presenting alternative schemes that can reach the informal sector, micro-business actors, and rural communities that have tended to be marginalized from the formal economic system.
The Red and White Cooperative is designed as a modern cooperative with a spirit of togetherness and social justice. It carries a mission that is more than just a business unit; it is present as a socio-economic movement that is rooted from below and places the people as owners and managers. This concept provides space for the community to be empowered collectively, develop productivity sustainably, and strengthen local economic resilience. In various regions, this cooperative is facilitated to manage the superior potential of each region, starting from the agricultural, fisheries, trade, services, to community-based tourism sectors, with an adaptive and participatory approach.
The Coordinating Minister for Food, Zulkifli Hasan (Zulhas) said the important role of the Red and White Village/Sub-district Cooperative in strengthening the foundation of the people’s economy through inclusive and equitable community empowerment throughout Indonesia. Zulhas also said that economic growth is not enough to rely only on large business actors, but must involve the people through the development of a village/sub-district-based economic system that is participatory and oriented towards shared welfare.
This Kopdes is believed to be the spearhead of the implementation of the people’s economy by placing the village as a new center of growth that is able to sustainably support the national economic structure. He conveyed the main essence of the program is not the size of the funds, but rather the real support and serious attention to the potential of village communities.
The government encourages cooperatives to have a transparent, accountable, and professional administration system in order to attract the trust of members and investors. On the other hand, supporting regulations are also continuously reviewed to provide flexibility and legal protection for healthy cooperatives that are oriented towards member services. One of the advantages of the Red and White Cooperative is its ability to adapt to the local context.
The Minister of Villages and Development of Disadvantaged Regions (Mendes PDT), Yandri Susanto said that with the presence of the Red and White Village/Sub-district Cooperative, it will become an economic mainstay in a region, especially Gorontalo. Furthermore, Yandri said that to facilitate coordination, the structure of the Red and White Kopdes Task Force at the provincial and district/city levels will be led directly by the governor and regent/mayor who automatically become the head of the task force.
On the same occasion, the Deputy Minister of Villages PDT, Ariza Patria said that cooperatives are a business. Therefore, cooperatives must make a profit. According to him, if the cooperative makes a profit, its capital will continue to increase and then the cooperative will get bigger. If the cooperatives grow bigger, then the number of people served will increase and the profits will also increase.
The increasingly strategic role of cooperatives will support the control of regional inflation and the stabilization of staple food prices. Through cooperatives, the distribution of important commodities such as rice, cooking oil, sugar, and vegetables can be better controlled so as to suppress price spikes at the consumer level. In addition, cooperatives also function as a collective forum to absorb local production fairly and distribute it to a wider market with an integrated system.
The strengthening of the Red and White Cooperative is proof of the government’s seriousness in providing a constructive dialogue space between the state and the people. Through cooperatives, the voice of the people can be organized and represented structurally in economic policy making inregional and national levels. This participation model strengthens economic democracy by ensuring that every citizen has an equal opportunity to advance through the support of an inclusive cooperative system. In this context, cooperatives become a bridge between the people’s economic aspirations and state policies that are on their side.
In the future, the Red and White Cooperative is expected to be a symbol of the revival of the Indonesian people’s economy. It is not only a business vehicle, but also a collective movement that confirms national economic sovereignty amidst the pressures of globalization. By strengthening cooperatives as the spearhead of economic equality, Indonesia emphasizes that true economic growth is not only about macro figures, but also about the extent to which its benefits are felt by all people, from remote villages to metropolitan cities.
)* The author is the editorial team of the Student Press Institute (LPM) Ideas