Prabowo: The Idea for Kopdes Merah Putih Has Been in My Mind for Decades

President Prabowo Subianto has revealed that the idea of establishing the Kopdes Merah Putih village cooperative first emerged decades ago, during his time serving as a soldier in various rural areas. Speaking at the peak commemoration of the 79th National Cooperative Day at the Indonesia Arena, Gelora Bung Karno, Jakarta, on Sunday, President Prabowo stated that his experience living alongside communities in villages was the starting point for the concept of strengthening cooperatives as an instrument for empowering the people’s economy. “The concept of the Kopdes Merah Putih has been in my mind for a long time, for decades,” said President Prabowo. He recounted that during his military service, he was often stationed for months in villages and mountainous regions. During these assignments, he witnessed first-hand the conditions of people living in poverty and even experiencing starvation. “I saw people starving there, I saw people dying of hunger, and I could do nothing because my own food was limited to my company,” he explained. From these experiences, President Prabowo became convinced that Indonesia’s development must begin with strengthening villages. Although Indonesia is moving towards becoming an industrial nation, the government must ensure that people at the lowest levels of society receive protection and access to economic activities. He believes cooperatives are one of the most appropriate instruments for strengthening the village economy. However, he acknowledged that past efforts to build cooperatives progressed slowly due to limited authority and access to capital. Since taking office, the President said the government has first strengthened the agricultural sector by accelerating food self-sufficiency, lowering fertiliser prices, and increasing the purchase price of unhusked rice to boost farmers’ incomes. Nevertheless, President Prabowo admitted to receiving reports that many farmers still face economic hardship because they are trapped in high-interest debt to meet their living expenses during the planting season. Farmers often borrow from loan sharks at exorbitant interest rates, meaning their harvest earnings cannot fully be used to improve their families’ welfare. President Prabowo said the government has therefore written off the debts of millions of farmers deemed unable to repay them as an initial policy step of the new administration. Following this, the government is designing the establishment of savings and loan cooperatives in every village and sub-district so that communities have access to cheaper financing and are no longer dependent on loan sharks. “Our people must have the opportunity to borrow money at low interest rates. The answer is that there must be a savings and loan cooperative in every village across the Republic of Indonesia,” President Prabowo asserted. He added that the figure of 81,000 Kopdes Merah Putih corresponds to the number of villages and sub-districts in Indonesia. According to him, the existence of these cooperatives is part of the government’s effort to break the community’s dependence on high-interest lending practices while simultaneously strengthening the grassroots economy at the village level.