Status of BUMN Employees Paid from State Budget: Duties of Merah Putih Village Cooperative Managers

Minister of Cooperatives Ferry Juliantono has detailed the duties of managers and treasurers who will oversee the Merah Putih Village/Urban Village Cooperatives. These positions will become the frontline for operations and business development of the Merah Putih Village/Urban Village Cooperatives across various regions.

Ferry explained that in the initial operational phase, the cooperatives will run several business units, ranging from grocery outlets, medicine outlets, clinics, to warehousing. Therefore, cooperative managers are required to understand the characteristics of the businesses they will run.

“Managers are like this: for the initial stage, the activities will certainly include opening grocery outlets, medicine outlets, clinics, and warehousing,” said Ferry during a press conference at his office in Jakarta on Friday (8/5/2026).

According to him, the ability to understand the cooperative business model is crucial because the managers will be fully responsible for running the village cooperative’s businesses.

“So, managers are expected to at least know the characteristics of the business activities I mentioned earlier,” he stated.

Not only managing operations, the cooperative managers will also have the task of developing businesses and seeking funding sources for the cooperatives.

“Then, these village cooperative managers will have the responsibility to run the businesses and enterprises of the Merah Putih Village/Urban Village Cooperatives,” he clarified.

In addition, they are expected to be capable of building business relationships to support the development of cooperatives in the regions.

“They will even guide the Merah Putih Village/Urban Village Cooperatives in business development activities, seeking funding sources, and building relationships with business partners and so on,” he said.

On the other hand, Ferry also revealed the educational requirements for prospective cooperative managers. The government sets a minimum of a bachelor’s degree or D4 for the position.

“Well, for managers, the requirement set previously is a bachelor’s degree/D4,” Ferry concluded.