Coordinating Minister Muhaimin: Kopdes MP to Become Strength in Achieving Food Self-Sufficiency

Jakarta (ANTARA) - Coordinating Minister for Community Empowerment (Menko PM), Abdul Muhaimin Iskandar, stated that the government is striving to strengthen the role of the Merah Putih Village Cooperative to mobilise the national economy and achieve food self-sufficiency. “All cooperatives, especially the Merah Putih Village/Urban Village Cooperatives, must become the force to drive our economy so that we are ready to become a nation that stands on its own feet, produces independently, and fulfils our own market needs, particularly the government’s target and the President’s directive to achieve food self-sufficiency and energy independence,” said Coordinating Minister Muhaimin Iskandar after an audience with Cooperatives Minister Ferry Juliantono in Jakarta on Monday. Muhaimin Iskandar added that Kopdes Merah Putih also plays a role in empowering the community and addressing poverty. This is because the government targets eliminating extreme poverty to zero per cent this year and reducing national poverty below five per cent by 2029. “We will continue to work as hard as possible so that cooperatives grow and move to become an economic force that can join together in tackling poverty with a target of 0 per cent this year and a maximum of 5 per cent in 2029,” said Muhaimin Iskandar. To achieve this target, the government continues to encourage Merah Putih Village/Urban Village Cooperatives to become community economic centres, both for village-based local products, agricultural outputs, and creative economy products to meet local to national markets. “The existing outlets are expected to become facilities for the growth and development of local productivity empowerment and community economy. We will also strive as hard as possible so that agricultural products are quickly followed by the cooperatives’ capacity to become off-takers for all our food and agricultural products,” said Muhaimin Iskandar.