Minister Encourages Students to Use Cooperatives to Build Joint Ventures

Minister of Cooperatives (Menkop) Ferry Juliantono is encouraging students to utilise cooperatives as a vehicle for building joint ventures, amidst growing business opportunities in the digital economy, modern agriculture, creative industries, and the green economy. In a press statement received in Jakarta on Tuesday, Ferry said cooperatives have transformed and expanded into various strategic sectors, making them a viable option for the younger generation to develop entrepreneurship. He noted that the Ministry of Cooperatives is continuing its transformation towards modern cooperatives that are adaptive to the times, professionally managed, based on digital technology, and capable of creating quality employment. Speaking at an online Cooperative Literacy for the Younger Generation event, he welcomed the involvement of students from Padjadjaran University (Unpad), campus entrepreneurship communities, and various student business units. He assessed that the students’ involvement demonstrates that universities have a significant contribution as centres of change. On that occasion, Ferry conveyed a message to students to build an entrepreneurial mindset, not to fear failure, and to leverage cooperatives as a platform for collaboration. He also invited students not only to pursue material profit but also to create jobs and improve community welfare. Deputy for Talent Development and Cooperative Competitiveness at the Ministry of Cooperatives, Destry Anna Sari, said the literacy activity was attended by 250 Unpad students who are members of the Unpad Preneur entrepreneurship community. A total of 49 young entrepreneur teams also exhibited their innovative products. According to Destry, these products are expected to be marketed through the ‘Red and White’ Village/Sub-district Cooperative outlets, thereby expanding the business scale of the young entrepreneurs. ‘When the economic scale is achieved, these young entrepreneurial friends will become entrepreneurs of national pride with a cooperative legal entity,’ she said. Meanwhile, Rector of Padjadjaran University, Arief Sjamsulaksan Kartasasmita, said cooperatives need to be seen as a relevant economic instrument for the younger generation, even though various misperceptions still arise in society. He invited students to view cooperatives as a way to improve the economy while implementing cooperative values with a more modern approach in line with the times.