Indonesia to place 30,000 Red‑White Village Cooperative managers from August 2026

Minister Ferry Juliantono said about 30,000 managers for the Red‑White Village/Urban Cooperatives (Kopdes Merah Putih) will be deployed across Indonesia beginning early August 2026, after completing a two‑week national‑service and managerial training programme.

The training runs 17–31 July 2026, covering 12 modules on philosophy, regulations, governance, operations and digitalisation, and includes a competence test for professional certification by the National Certification Agency.

Coordinating Food Minister Zulkifli Hasan explained that the cooperatives are meant as government infrastructure, not modern retail, acting as off‑takers for village production and channels for distributing aid such as rice, agricultural tools and fishing equipment, even in mountainous and coastal locations.

He urged local officials to keep the facilities active rather than merely symbolic, calling for stronger coordination and sufficient funding to turn them into productive economic hubs.