Strengthening the People's Economy, East Java Provincial Government Wins National Governance Awards

East Java Province has once again achieved a national accolade by winning the Outstanding Province in Supporting the Merah Putih Village Cooperative Programme category at the National Governance Awards 2026. The award was presented directly by Indonesia’s Minister of Home Affairs, Tito Karnavian, to East Java Governor Khofifah Indar Parawansa at The Ritz-Carlton Jakarta.

This recognition serves as appreciation for the efforts and successes of the East Java Provincial Government in promoting economic growth through the integrated, inclusive, and sustainable implementation of the Merah Putih Village/Sub-district Cooperative Programme (KDKMP).

In the central government’s assessment, East Java has successfully strengthened institutions, human resources, businesses, cooperatives, and built an inclusive and sustainable village economic ecosystem.

East Java Governor Khofifah Indar Parawansa expressed gratitude for the achievement. According to Khofifah, this award reflects the collective efforts in strengthening the people’s economy based on villages as the foundation of regional development.

“We work not with the aim of receiving awards but are happy and grateful that the performance carried out in East Java Province has been captured and received appreciation,” said Khofifah in a written statement on Saturday (25/4/2026).

Khofifah explained that the development of KDKMP is carried out through integration with regional priority programmes outlined in the East Java Provincial Medium-Term Development Plan (RPJMD) for 2025-2029, particularly in strengthening real sector cooperatives.

In its implementation, the East Java Provincial Government has allocated a budget for issuing legal entity deeds for 1,660 KDKMPs in 2025.

Additionally, training has been provided to 16,167 cooperative managers and facilitators through decentralised funding support from the Ministry of Cooperatives and SMEs (Kemenkop).

This is a concrete form of collective work between the central government, province, and regencies/cities.

This year, the East Java Provincial Government has also promoted institutional and human resource capacity building through managerial training, financial reporting preparation, and optimisation of Annual Member Meetings (RAT) as part of strengthening cooperative governance.

Based on data from the East Java Provincial Cooperative and SME Office, 1,292 KDKMP business outlets have been established covering various sectors, including staple goods stores, pharmacies, clinics, logistics, warehousing, savings and loans, and various other business units.

“Alhamdulillah, based on the KDKMP Village Cooperative Management Information System (Simkopdes), there are 711 staple goods outlets, 42 village clinic outlets, 52 village pharmacy outlets, 76 logistics outlets, 154 savings and loans business outlets, and 257 other business outlets,” Khofifah revealed.

Through the village cooperative management information system, these numbers continue to grow with increases in various types of services, including staple goods outlets, health services, and logistics distribution.

Khofifah is optimistic that the presence of KDKMP will have a positive impact and accelerate economic growth from villages/sub-districts, while narrowing disparities or inequalities between rural and urban areas.

Currently, the KDKMP programme in East Java has been established at 8,494 points or covering 100% of villages and sub-districts throughout the region. Khofifah also emphasised that KDKMP serves as a strategic partner for MSME actors and facilitates public access to basic needs such as fertiliser and LPG.

Currently, several KDKMPs have functioned as 3 kg LPG and subsidised fertiliser distribution agents, while still building synergies with existing business actors and distributors at the village level.

Khofifah added that the presence of KDKMP is not intended to compete with existing village/sub-district businesses, but rather to bring services closer to the community or consumers so that prices can become more affordable.

“Don’t kill each other. Instead, KDKMP must strengthen one another,” Khofifah explained.

Looking ahead, the East Java Provincial Government will continue to promote cooperative institutional strengthening to become professional, adaptive, and competitive economic institutions.

Additionally, access to financing for micro-business actors in villages will be further expanded to support productive community business development.

Meanwhile, regarding efforts to increase economic growth, Khofifah emphasised the East Java Provincial Government’s initiatives in promoting downstreaming as a strategy to enhance added value, particularly in regional flagship sectors.

As a province with a significant contribution to the processing industry sector, East Java is assessed to have great potential to continue developing downstreaming, both in agriculture, horticulture, and livestock sectors.

Khofifah stated that downstreaming is one of the important instruments in strengthening the regional economic structure while driving sustainable and inclusive economic growth.

“We want to carry out downstreaming in the agro sector, horticulture up to downstreaming in the livestock sector. So whatever can provide greater added value to the community, we will enhance,” said Khofifah.

“Downstreaming is an effort and an important part in increasing economic growth in East Java,” she added.

On the same occasion, Interior Minister Tito Karnavian stated that this award is given as a form of appreciation as well as to encourage the creation of a healthy competitive climate among regional governments.

“This award is expected to ignite the spirit of regional heads to continue innovating and providing the best contributions to national development,” said Tito.

In addition to East Java, four regencies/cities also received awards, namely Surabaya City in the Excellent City in Integrated Connectivity & Strategic Infrastructure Transformation category, Malang City (Excellent City in Advance Academic Achievement), Lamongan Regency (Top Regency in Agro-Maritime Food Hub), and Situbondo Regency (Top Regency in Public Health).