Ministry of Cooperatives: 30,000 Red and White Cooperative Buildings to be Inaugurated Soon

Semarang (ANTARA) - The Ministry of Cooperatives plans to inaugurate around 30,000 Red and White cooperative buildings that are ready to operate in the near future this year.

Assistant Deputy for Cooperative Digitalisation at the Ministry of Cooperatives, Riza Azmi, in Semarang on Wednesday, explained that there are several stages or phases in the Red and White cooperative programme.

“For phase one, which has already been passed, namely the institutional phase. Around 80,000 or more (Red and White cooperatives) have been formed from an institutional perspective, legal entity, and so on,” she said.

She conveyed this while speaking at the Media Workshop “Stories of Village Cooperatives Becoming Meaningful News” organised by the Media Ecosystem Directorate, Directorate General of Public Communication and Media, Ministry of Communication and Digital.

“Now we are entering the second phase, the construction phase and the operational phase of the Red and White Village/Subdistrict Cooperatives,” she said.

At present, she said, at least 7,000 Red and White cooperative buildings have been established, 100 per cent of which are ready to operate.

She stated that the operation of the Red and White cooperatives will be followed by the inauguration of around 30,000 Red and White cooperative buildings ready to operate around July-August 2026.

According to her, the current challenges faced by the Red and White cooperatives are equitable access, for example, related to electricity and internet networks.

“The second is actually from the digitalisation side, related to the Digital Society Index (IMDI), which is actually still not uniform,” she said.

There are some regions where the community has a high level of digital literacy, but in other regions, it may still need guidance.

Regarding land, she said, there is indeed a challenge in finding land of at least 1,000 square metres for buildings measuring 20x30 metres.

She said that the scheme uses the first design, but there is a second design as an alternative, namely for land under 1,000 square metres.

“There is actually a second design for land under 1,000 square metres. But this is still being prepared,” she said.