President Prabowo Insists Cooperatives are the Tool of the Weak

REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- President of Indonesia Prabowo Subianto called the cooperative as a group of people if united It can be a useful force. This was said by Prabowo in his speech at the institutional launch of 80 thousand units of Merah Putih Village and Village Cooperative (Kopdes/Kopkel) in Tenangan Village, Wonosari District, Klaten Regency, Central Java, Monday (21/7/2025).

“The cooperative is the tool of the weak, the tool of the weak nation. But the concept is simple, the same as the concept of people. One person is weak, not strong, does not mean one person, but if there are dozens of people, hundreds of people are made into one, this is a tool that can help us. So from weak, weak, weak, weak to strength. It is a cooperative concept,” Prabowo said.

President said that cooperatives are tools used by communities that do not yet have economic power. Those who are already economically strong generally form business entities in the form of limited liability companies, holding companies, and corporations.

Prabowo said that the cooperative concept is gotong royong and was built a long time ago. Movements such as cooperatives, he said, are not always favored by big financiers because they are perceived to be competitors.

“And there are certain countries in the world that do not like to see a new country, a big country that wants to rise up. This is a human problem, a geopolitical problem, a hegemony problem,” Prabowo said.

He argues that cooperatives can be a means to achieve sovereignty and independence, particularly in the economic sphere. However, Prabowo insists that as long as the people are still experiencing hunger and poverty, independence has not been fully realized.

“An independent country is a country that can feed its people, an independent people, an independent nation is one that can guarantee a decent life for all its people,” Prabowo said.

The launch of Kopdes/Kopkel Red White is a follow-up to Presidential Instruction Number 9 of 2025 on Accelerating the Formation of Red White Village/Ward Cooperative in force since March 27, 2025. The launch was followed simultaneously by all regions in Indonesia via an online connection, covering 38 provinces as well as 514 districts and cities.