Developing Cooperatives is Task of All Ministries/Institutions: Cooperatives and SMEs Ministry

Several speakers have a discussion in a Thematic Forum of the Governmental Public Relations Coordination Board (Bakohumas) at the Auditorium of Ministry of Cooperatives and Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Jakarta, on Tuesday (5/9)

Developing cooperatives is a task of all ministries or institutions, considered that cooperatives included in top three of Indonesia’s economic potential besides those from private sector and State-Owned Enterprises  (SOEs).

The statement was made by Secretary of the Ministry of Cooperatives and Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) Agus Muharram in a remarks during a Thematic Forum of the Governmental Public Relations Coordination Board (Bakohumas) at the Auditorium of the Ministry of Cooperatives and Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Jakarta, on Tuesday (5/9).

“As an institution, the contribution of cooperatives to the national Gross Domestic Product (GDP) rose from 1.7 percent in 2013 to 3.99 percent in 2016. This is an achievement in the third year of President Jokowi and Vice President Jusuf Kalla’s Administration,” Agus added.

Also on the same occasion, Deputy for Organisation of the Cooperatives and SMEs Ministry Melyadi Sembiring said that based on online data system per 7 August 2017, there were approximately 152,555 active cooperatives, and 56,771 inactive cooperatives. “Cooperative members reached 26,989,570 people consisted of 23,135 managers and 347,839 employees,” Melyadi added.

According to him, the contribution of cooperatives members to the national GDP rose from 13.56 percent in 2013 to 24.70 percent in 2017. Not to mention the ratio of entrepreneurship also increased from 1.55 percent in 2013 to 3.01 percent in 2016.

“Cooperative reform has been done, including the rehabilitation (organisation reform), reorientation (paradigm shift) and development (in gradual and structured manners),” Melyadi stated.

Director General for Public Information and Communications of the Ministry of Communication and Informatics Rosarita Niken Widyastuti in her introductory remarks said that since 72 years ago cooperatives have developed and capable to provide employment and benefit for the community. “The achievement of the Ministry of Cooperatives and SMEs should be informed to the people, otherwise people will not know it,” Niken asserted.

Cooperatives and SMEs, Niken added, should be encouraged to take digital form because customers or members will not be limited by space and time anymore. “Public relations have a task to disseminate information to the people about cooperatives and SMEs through their respective business sectors,” Niken stated.

Campaign to counter negative issues is also the task of  Governmental Public Relations so that vague information will not spread to the community.

Also attending the event which took theme “The Role of Cooperatives in Innovation to Increase Equity,” were Cooperative and SME Ambassador Dedi “Miing” Gumelar, Deputy for Organisation of the Ministry of Cooperatives and SMEs Melyadi Sembiring, and representatives of Communication Board in ministries/institutions and Indonesian National Defence Forces/Indonesian National Police. (EN/ES)(RAS/MMB/YM/Naster)