Minister of Cooperatives Prepares Red White Village Cooperatives to Become Markets for Women's Village Products

Jakarta (ANTARA) - Minister of Cooperatives Ferry Juliantono has assured that Village/Urban Village Red White Cooperatives will become facilities for marketing products from community enterprises, particularly women’s groups in villages and urban villages. Ferry stated that products produced by women’s groups will not only be marketed through village cooperative outlets but will also receive business incubation and financing support. This collaboration involves the Ministry of Women’s Empowerment and Child Protection (PPPA). “Products from village women’s groups will be incubated, financed, and marketed through village cooperative outlets,” Ferry said during the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the Ministry of Cooperatives and several ministries and institutions in Jakarta on Monday. According to Ferry, women’s business development is one of the focuses in strengthening the Red White Cooperative programme currently being implemented by the government. Ferry explained that besides serving as centres for village economic activities, the cooperatives will also expand their functions as community service centres, including units for women’s and children’s complaints. Minister of Women’s Empowerment and Child Protection Arifah Fauzi stated that village cooperatives can become strategic spaces to strengthen women’s empowerment at the grassroots level. She also proposed that Red White Cooperatives provide units for reporting cases of violence against women and children, as the locations of Regional Technical Implementation Units (UPTD) of PPPA at the district level are often difficult for rural communities to access. In addition, Arifah encouraged women’s involvement in the management of Red White Cooperatives. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Cooperatives is partnering with the Government Investment Centre (PIP) of the Ministry of Finance to support financing for business groups that have transformed into cooperatives. On the other hand, collaboration with the National Standardization Agency (BSN) is aimed at helping cooperative products meet standards so they can compete in domestic and international markets. Furthermore, the Ministry of Population and Family Planning/National Population and Family Planning Board (BKKBN) is involved to encourage supervised groups in villages to have cooperative business entities. The cooperation with BPJS Employment Insurance aims to provide social security protection for cooperative managers and workers.