Minister: 30,000 Kopdes Managers to be Deployed from Early August
Jakarta (ANTARA) - Minister of Cooperatives Ferry Juliantono stated that approximately 30,000 managers for the Merah Putih Village/Sub-district Cooperatives (Kopdes) will begin being deployed to cooperatives throughout Indonesia starting in August 2026, following the completion of ongoing training programmes.
Ferry noted that the deployment will be carried out gradually, in alignment with the completion of the physical construction of warehouses, outlets, and supporting facilities for Kopdes Merah Putih.
“God willing, by early August, they will have completed their training and we will immediately deploy them to all Merah Putih Village/Sub-district Cooperatives, coinciding with the completion of the construction of warehouses, outlets, and necessary equipment,” Ferry said during a press conference in Jakarta on Thursday.
According to him, the managers will be assigned to their respective home regions to ensure a better understanding of local characteristics and to facilitate cooperative management.
Prospective Kopdes Merah Putih managers are currently undergoing national defence training and managerial training for prospective cooperative managers. This programme was previously known as reserve component training (komcad), but the government has modified the scheme following an evaluation after the deaths of five participants during training.
As a result, the duration of the national defence training has been reduced from one month to two weeks.
On the same occasion, Deputy Minister of Cooperatives Farida Farichah stated that the prospective managers will subsequently undergo cooperative managerial training organised by the Ministry of Cooperatives. This training is scheduled to take place from 17–31 July 2026.
The training covers 12 modules, including philosophy, regulation, and cooperative practices, institutional frameworks, cooperative governance, operational management, and the digitalisation of Kopdes Merah Putih.
While the training will still be held at the same education and training centres used for the national defence programme, the curriculum and instructors will be coordinated by the Ministry of Cooperatives.
Farida added that at the end of the training, participants will undergo competency tests to obtain professional certification from the National Professional Certification Agency (BNSP) to ensure that Kopde Merah Putih is managed by professional human resources.
According to data from the Merah Putih Village/Sub-district Cooperative Information System (Simkopdes) as of 2 July 2026, out of approximately 35,000 verified cooperative outlet construction sites, around 20,000 units are currently under construction. Meanwhile, approximately 14,000 Merah Putih Kopdes have reached 100 per cent completion.