Ministry of Cooperatives Claims Merah Putih Village Cooperatives Will Not Harm Small Businesses

Jakarta, VIVA – The Ministry of Cooperatives has claimed that the presence of Merah Putih Village Cooperatives (KDMP) will not harm small businesses or traditional shops in villages.

Special Staff to the Minister of Cooperatives for the Productive and Creative Economy of Cooperative Enterprises, Ambar Pertiwiningrum, said the cooperatives are instead directed towards strengthening capital access and encouraging the development of productive village economies.

“The KDMP will not kill small businesses, it will not kill small shops. In fact, small shops owned by residents holding identity cards from the village will become cooperative members,” she said after inspecting the Pancuranmas KDMP in Secang District, Magelang Regency, on Wednesday, 18 February 2026.

According to her, the establishment of the KDMP has been coordinated at the central government level. Within the task force that has been formed, the government has involved a number of relevant ministries, including the Ministry of Agrarian Affairs and Spatial Planning/National Land Agency and the Ministry of Agriculture.

She explained that the cross-ministerial involvement was carried out to ensure all aspects, including licensing and support for the agricultural and spatial planning sectors, are implemented in accordance with regulations.

Ambar said small shops and micro-enterprise operators in villages would in fact become an important part of the KDMP’s development. By becoming cooperative members, they would be able to access various facilities, including capital support.

“Later, if small shops need capital to develop their businesses, the requirement is simply to become a cooperative member. Within the cooperative there is a savings and loan unit specifically intended for developing productive economic activities,” she said.

She conveyed that the savings and loan unit is expected to become a financing instrument easily accessible to village communities, so that small business operators no longer face difficulties in obtaining additional capital to expand their enterprises.

“With this scheme, the KDMP is projected to become a vehicle for strengthening the village economy based on membership, not as a competitor to existing small businesses. The government emphasises that the main principle of cooperatives is mutual cooperation and member empowerment, including small shops in villages,” she said.