Indonesia targets one-month completion of village cooperative regulation
Coordinating Minister for Food Affairs Zulkifli Hasan noted that the Perpres drafting involves the Ministry of Cooperatives and the Ministry of Villages and Development of Disadvantaged Regions.
“The target is for the process to conclude within a month so that we can proceed to work on other matters effectively,” he remarked at a press conference after a limited coordination meeting on the KDMP program in Jakarta on Monday.
Hasan said the government intends village cooperatives to help extend welfare programs and distribute subsidized goods to rural communities across Indonesia.
He explained that the plan is for the National Food Agency (Bapanas) to channel food aid packages through KDMPs to improve targeting and ensure aid strictly reaches eligible recipients.
Additionally, the government aims to position the cooperatives as an instrument to expand access to food commodities, cooking oil, fertilizer, and LPG under subsidy schemes.
The minister also highlighted the cooperatives’ role as off-takers absorbing produce from local farmers and fishers, helping protect them from price volatility.
Against that backdrop, Hasan emphasized the urgency of finalizing the presidential regulation to support the national priority program, which is intended to position village cooperatives as one-stop service centers for government programs.
The approach, he added, is designed to improve rural communities’ access to essential goods and public services.
He described KDMPs as “government infrastructure” dedicated to serving the public, rejecting the notion that they are merely convenience stores.
The drafting of the regulation is proceeding alongside the construction of key cooperative facilities, with 35,872 units expected to be completed in August and September. Around 40,000 KDMPs are projected to begin operating by the end of the year.
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Translator: F. Ashari, Tegar Nurfitra