President Prabowo Subianto is scheduled to inaugurate the Koperasi Desa/Kelurahan Merah Putih (Village/Urban Cooperative “Merah Putih”) on July 21, 2025. This initiative is part of the President’s sixth Asta Cita (Visionary Aspiration), aimed at revitalizing local economies and initiating poverty alleviation at the village level. Kopdes Merah Putih is one of the three core strategies introduced under President Prabowo’s administration, known as the “trident of poverty eradication,” alongside the Free Health Check Program in Schools and the People’s School.
The Kopdes Merah Putih program was launched through Presidential Instruction No. 9 of 2025 on Accelerating the Establishment of Village/Urban Cooperatives Merah Putih, which focuses on building the national economy from the village level upward to reduce inequality and emancipate communities from poverty. The goal is to address the root cause of limited public access to essential services, including education, healthcare, and infrastructure due to poverty levels in Indonesia.
With the formal launch of 80,000 Kopdes Merah Putih institutions on July 21, 2025, the initiative aims to benefit local communities by providing inclusive, modern, and community-driven cooperatives. These cooperatives will strengthen rural economies, improve food security, and reduce poverty, while also eliminating illegal lending operations and predatory lenders that exploit rural economies. The program emphasizes prosperity for farmers by purchasing agricultural products directly, thereby shortening supply chains and reducing prices for consumers.
The development of Kopdes Merah Putih involves establishing new cooperatives, expanding existing ones, and revitalizing underperforming cooperatives, with institutional components such as cooperative offices, basic food outlets, savings and loan units, rural clinics and pharmacies, cold storage facilities, and logistics distribution hubs. These facilities are designed to provide communities with access to essential goods, secure loans, healthcare services, and efficient logistics operations.
The Kopdes Merah Putih initiative holds promise in boosting local businesses, strengthening rural economies, and improving access to key resources and services in rural areas. By implementing cooperative strategies aimed at reducing poverty and improving livelihoods, the program aligns with the vision of Indonesia Emas 2045 (Golden Indonesia 2045) to promote human capital development and economic growth at the village level.
