President Prabowo Subianto is scheduled to inaugurate the Koperasi Desa/Kelurahan Merah Putih (Village/Urban Cooperative “Merah Putih”) on Monday, July 21, 2025, in Jakarta. This initiative is part of the President’s sixth Asta Cita (Visionary Aspiration), aimed at revitalizing local economies and initiating poverty alleviation at the village level. Kopdes Merah Putih is one of three core strategies introduced under the President’s administration for poverty eradication, referred to as the “trident of poverty eradication,” with concrete government programs representing health, education, and socio-economic development. The program seeks to reduce inequality and uplift communities from poverty by building the national economy from the village level upward, involving thirteen ministries, two national agencies, governors, mayors, regents, and village heads across Indonesia. The initiative aims to eliminate illegal lending operations and predatory lenders, strengthen rural economies, improve food security, and ultimately reduce poverty by adopting an inclusive, modern, and community-driven approach. Kopdes Merah Putih is expected to provide tangible benefits to local communities through the establishment of cooperatives across various villages, with a focus on prosperity for farmers by cutting out exploitative intermediaries and improving access to key resources and services in rural areas. The program emphasizes the development of new cooperatives, the expansion of existing ones, and the revitalization of underperforming cooperatives through the provision of essential facilities such as cooperative offices, savings and loan units, rural clinics and pharmacies, cold storage facilities, and logistics distribution hubs. The goal is to create a more efficient logistics chain that allows communities to access affordable goods, secure loans, receive healthcare services, and store agricultural and marine harvests safely.
President Prabowo’s Engine for Boosting Village Economies
