Ferry Juliantono officially moved up the ladder to become the new Minister of Cooperatives on Tuesday (9/9/2025). He replaces Budie Arie Setiadi who was affected by the cabinet reshuffle on September 8, 2025.

In his speech, in addition to expressing his appreciation, Ferry - who previously served as deputy minister - ensured that he would continue the baton and maintain the existing priority programs including the Merah Putih Village Cooperative (Kopdes Merah Putih) program.

"The good legacy program will be maintained and its performance will be improved," Ferry said after the handover process at the Auditorium of the Ministry of Cooperatives, Tuesday afternoon (9/9/2025).

In addition, he will also push for the ratification of the National Cooperative System Law as a replacement for the old rules. The current regulation on cooperatives is Law Number 25 of 1992. Ferry assessed that the old regulation must be updated because there are still weaknesses, especially regarding savings and loan cooperatives.

Ferry will consult with the Minister of Finance to discuss his ministry's budget. He expects an increase in the ceiling because the program is quite large.

Ferry Joko Juliantono is known as a technocrat, activist, bureaucrat and politician of the Gerindra Party. He serves as Deputy Chairman for Mass Mobilization of the Gerindra Party DPP 2020-2025.

The man born on July 27, 1967 is an expert in the field of populist economic development and cooperatives. He has served as Secretary General of the Islamic Society (SI) for the 2021-2026 period, and Chairman of the Padjajaran University Alumni Association (IKA Unpad) 2024-2028.

Previously, when Budie Arie Setiadi was still Minister of Cooperatives, he proposed an additional budget of Rp 7.85 trillion for 2026 to support priority programs such as the Merah Putih Village Cooperative.

A number of parties consider that the total budget ceiling of the Ministry of Cooperatives in 2026 of Rp 937.04 billion is not enough to support the Kopdes Merah Putih program. They consider that the establishment of cooperatives will not be effective and instead create brokers.

Meanwhile, Budi Arie had sparked controversy when his name was mentioned in an online gambling case. After being removed, Budi Arie Setiadi admitted that he would return to actively supporting the organization that had raised him, Projo, which consists of volunteers supporting Joko Widodo.

"Everyone will come back, the only thing that will come back is going home," Budi said.

However, he emphasized that he will give full support to President Prabowo Subianto's administration.

Good governance

Responding to this ministerial change, cooperative expert and CEO of Induk Koperasi Usaha Rakyat (Inkur) Suroto emphasized the importance of autonomy and good governance in the establishment of the 80,000 Merah Putih Village Cooperatives (Kopdes) targeted for completion this year.

"The success of many cooperatives in various parts of the world lies in the recognition of independence, autonomy," he told SUAR in Jakarta (9/9).

Suroto added that cooperatives should be maintained with active governance. Then, there is a cooperative education program for members and the community. In addition, cooperatives should be developed based on a solid organization.

The Merah Putih Village Cooperative was launched on July 7, 2025, among others, to improve food security. The capital to form this cooperative comes from the State, Regional, and Village Budgets, as well as other legal sources in accordance with statutory provisions.

There are various types of business units that can be developed by Kopdes Merah Putih. These include pharmacies, clinics, savings and loan units, cooperative offices, basic food procurement, warehousing or cold storage, and logistics.

In addition, according to Suroto, the organization can also run other businesses in accordance with the potential and needs of the local community.

Coordinating Minister for Food, as well as Chairman of the KDMP National Task Force, Zulkifli Hasan, stated that cooperatives will be a means of distribution, empowering farmers and fishermen, as well as breaking the chain of middlemen and loan sharks.

The managers of Koperasi Merah Putih can actually learn from other cooperatives that have been able to develop well. Suroto cited several successful cooperatives in Indonesia:

• Gerakan Koperasi Kredit Indonesia (GKKI): This cooperative was established independently and has been consistently developed through member education. GKKI has 4.6 million members and Rp 48 trillion in assets. One of its early figures was Margono Djojohadikusumo, who is the grandfather of President Prabowo Subianto.
• Induk Koperasi Kredit (Inkopdit), which houses around 900 savings and loan cooperatives(credit unions) with consolidated assets of IDR 46 trillion, is a successful example of a cooperative born out of self-help, solidarity and education. This model has proven to be resilient even without major support from the state.
• Koperasi Warteg Nusantara (Kowantara) was born from the collective experience of warteg vendors in Jabodetabek. Under the pressure of inflation and business competition, warteg owners formed a community as a space for mutual cooperation. Starting as a gathering of families and neighbors, Kowantara is now a legal entity with more than 10,000 members.