Cooperatives Minister Visits Agrinas Office, Discusses Merah Putih Village Cooperative Operational Plan
The Minister of Cooperatives (Menkop), Ferry Juliantono, visited the office of PT Agrinas Pangan Nusantara. Ferry reviewed the progress of construction of 83,000 physical outlets for Village/Neighbourhood Cooperatives (Kopdes/Kel) Merah Putih.
The visit took place on Monday, 16 March 2026 in Jakarta. Ferry met directly with Chief Executive Officer Joao Angelo De Sousa Mota.
During the meeting, the Ministry of Cooperatives (Kemenkop) and Agrinas agreed to continue conducting intensive coordination to accelerate the completion of cooperative construction. They also ensured that the cooperative business model would run effectively.
Ferry added that the government would hold a series of follow-up meetings to refine various operational aspects. The coordination would include strengthening the distribution system, operational management, and integration of the food logistics ecosystem.
“We are optimistic. Once the distribution is clear, we will intensify meetings between the Ministry of Cooperatives and Agrinas to ensure implementation runs smoothly,” he said.
Meanwhile, Ferry appreciated Agrinas’s efforts in developing the physical outlets of Merah Putih Kopdes. Ferry emphasised the importance of verification and validation processes before full operations commenced.
Ferry also highlighted the need for standard specifications for business units such as pharmacy outlets and clinics to ensure consistent service quality. He noted the need for regulations regarding the integration of Merah Putih Kopdes with Toko Rakyat Serba Ada (TORASERA) as a hub and aggregator business model.
Ferry also directed Agrinas to take strategic steps related to accelerating the physical construction of Merah Putih Kopdes outlets.
“If we can accelerate the work process on new land areas, we are optimistic that significant progress will be visible by September,” the Minister said.
In addition to reviewing the facilities, Ferry also inspected Agrinas’s command centre, which is used to monitor project developments in an integrated manner. The facility is expected to strengthen oversight and accelerate decision-making in managing the cooperative network.
On the same occasion, Chief Executive Officer of Agrinas Pangan Nusantara, Joao Angelo De Sousa Mota, reported that 32,660 units of Merah Putih Kopdes outlets were currently under physical construction. Meanwhile, 2,700 units of physical Merah Putih Kopdes outlets had been completed 100 per cent.
“And we continue to progress and we hope that by the end of April we will have more than 20,000 already 100 per cent completed,” said Joao.
Joao reported that the Merah Putih Kopdes project would adopt professional management standards inspired by the success of cooperatives in Spain and Singapore. The main focus is digitalisation and transparent centralised management to build a national scale.
All supporting infrastructure, ranging from computer transaction systems, scanning devices, to comfort facilities such as air conditioning, CCTV, and security equipment (fire extinguishers and generators), were claimed to be ready.
“Although transforming into modern retail, the essence of cooperatives through the principle of one man one vote remains the main foundation,” said Joao.