Ministry of Cooperatives Partners with Islamic Boarding Schools to Develop Cooperatives and Economic Empowerment
The Ministry of Cooperatives has formally established a cooperation agreement with the Central Board of Al Jam’iyatul Washliyah to strengthen cooperative development and economic empowerment of communities. The cooperation is marked by the signing of an agreement between the two parties which includes several programmes, ranging from cooperative training, business development, to collaborative economic activities that provide mutual benefits.
“We have discussed and signed a cooperation agreement between the Ministry of Cooperatives and Central Board Al Jam’iyatul Washliyah. Some of the cooperation includes training, business development, and various other programmes that provide mutual benefits for both parties,” said Minister of Cooperatives Ferry Juliantono at the Ministry of Cooperatives office on Friday (13/3).
He emphasised that the government is open to collaborating with various religious organisations and community organisations in developing cooperatives in Indonesia. According to Ferry, strengthening cooperatives is a constitutional mandate enshrined in the 1945 Constitution and is also one of the policy focuses of the Prabowo Subianto administration, which has again positioned cooperatives as the pillars of the national economy.
“This cooperative movement is not only the property of the Ministry of Cooperatives, but becomes a state movement involving all elements of society. Because cooperatives are a mandate from the nation’s founders and a constitutional mandate,” said Ferry.
He also argued that the basic values of cooperatives such as kinship, togetherness, and mutual aid need to be strengthened again amid an economic system which in recent decades has tended to be dominated by individualistic spirit. In this cooperation, the Ministry of Cooperatives will also involve the Rolling Fund Management Institute for MSMEs (LPDB) to support and incubate cooperatives within Al Washliyah’s environment.
“The Ministry of Cooperatives together with LPDB can support, incubate, and even help finance cooperatives in the Al Washliyah environment, both those located in Islamic boarding schools and their organisations,” explained Ferry.
He added that the government is also encouraging wider synergies between cooperatives and state-owned enterprises as well as the private sector to strengthen the national cooperative ecosystem.
Additionally, the government continues to develop the Red and White Village/Neighbourhood Cooperative programme, which currently has more than 32,000 units under development. Ferry assessed that the potential of cooperatives based on Islamic boarding schools and religious organisations is very large, with some Islamic boarding school cooperatives already possessing assets worth trillions of rupiah.
“The potential of Islamic boarding school cooperatives is very large. What we are building now is its ecosystem, so that larger cooperatives can become mentors for smaller cooperatives through collaboration and support,” he said.
Meanwhile, Chairman of Central Board Al Washliyah, Masyhuril Khamis, revealed that in recent years, Al Washliyah has begun strengthening its role in the economic sector through various financial institutions and cooperatives.
“Now we are focusing on cooperatives which we have named At-Tijarah Al-Washliyah Cooperative,” he said.
He added that cooperation with the Ministry of Cooperatives is expected to encourage economic empowerment of organisation members, most of whom come from lower-income communities, including farmers and fishermen in various regions. Masyhuril stated that the potential of cooperatives within Al Washliyah actually already exists in various educational institutions and Islamic boarding schools, but so far they have operated independently without strong coordination.
“In each of our schools there is a cooperative, in each university there is a cooperative, and in Islamic boarding schools there are also cooperatives. However, they operate in their own way. With today’s meeting we want to revive that potential,” he emphasised.