President Inaugurates Operations of Over 1,000 Village Cooperatives

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com - President Prabowo Subianto inaugurated the operations of 1,061 Village Red and White Cooperatives (Kopdes Merah Putih) simultaneously in Nganjuk, East Java, on Saturday (May 16, 2026).

Prabowo stated that the inauguration of these thousands of village cooperatives is a “historic milestone” for Indonesia’s rural economy because it was carried out within less than a year since the program was conceived and has been equipped with operational facilities, warehouses, and even distribution vehicles.

Prabowo revealed that the initial target was to inaugurate 1,300 units of cooperatives. However, some cooperatives were deemed not fully ready for operation.

“Today we are inaugurating the operations of 1,061 cooperatives. I will explain a little about the number 1,061. So initially, it was supposed to be inaugurated with 1,300 units, but it seems some were in a hurry, and others were looking for something, so I said let’s just do 1,000,” Prabowo said.

“Then the President Director of Agrinas Palma remembered that I like the number 8. So he said, ‘Why not 1,061 instead of 1,300?’ So if you add one and six, it’s seven, seven plus one is eight,” Prabowo explained.

“So what do Indonesians like? They like to find ways, but that’s just a way for us to be enthusiastic,” he added.

However, Prabowo emphasized that the most important thing is not the number of cooperatives inaugurated, but the speed of program implementation.

“The point is that we established it from concept to realization in less than a year,” he said.

“Today is an important day, it is a historic milestone. I think if you look at other countries, especially in our nation’s history, if you look for a country, a government that has inaugurated the operations of more than 1,000 cooperatives,” Prabowo explained.

According to him, the inaugurated cooperatives are not just established administratively but are also equipped with operational facilities.

“Yes, physically the buildings exist, the warehouses exist, the systems exist, the goods exist, the staff exists, the logistical elements exist. There are trucks, there are pickups, there are three-wheeled vehicles. I think today is quite important,” he said.

“The physical construction began in approximately November 2024 until now, which means less than six months. November, December, January, February, March, April, May. Seven months. If from November, it’s seven months. In seven months, we can operationalize 1,061 cooperatives,” Prabowo said.