Jakarta, MINA – The National Committee for Islamic Economy and Finance (KNEKS) has joined forces with Programma Uitzending Managers (PUM) Netherlands and Indonesia’s Ministry of Cooperatives and SMEs to enhance the modern production cooperative ecosystem.
PUM Netherlands is a non-profit organization that connects Dutch experts with entrepreneurs in developing countries to promote sustainable business practices.
Helma Agustiawan, Deputy Director of Sharia Business Incubation at KNEKS, stated that this collaboration aims to reinforce cooperatives as a cornerstone of the national economy, aligning with the National Medium-Term Development Plan and Asta Cita.
“This collaboration is expected to boost the competitiveness of production cooperatives, particularly in the agro-maritime sector, by driving innovation and industrialization,” Helma stated in a virtual meeting on Friday (Feb 28).
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The collaboration officially began in January 2025, marked by the visit of two PUM experts to Indonesia, where they provided hands-on guidance to production cooperatives in South Bandung, West Java. Additionally, they held discussions with the Deputy for Talent Development and Cooperative Competitiveness at the Ministry of Cooperatives and SMEs, as well as the Director of SME and Cooperative Development at Bappenas, regarding the Netherlands’ experience in building a robust cooperative ecosystem.
Bagus Aryo, Deputy Director of Sharia Microfinance Institutions at KNEKS, emphasized the huge potential of production cooperatives in increasing value-added growth through downstream processing and industrialization. He outlined five key strategies for cooperative development:
- Policy and regulatory alignment to support cooperative growth,
- Institutional restructuring to modernize production cooperatives,
- Expanded access to funding and financial support,
- Collaboration with global development agencies, and
- The development of a comprehensive modern cooperative ecosystem blueprint.
Agung Irianto, a representative of PUM Netherlands, revealed that the Netherlands has over 3,300 active cooperatives with 30 million members, despite the country’s population being only 18 million. Cooperatives contribute 18% to the Netherlands’ GDP, demonstrating that professionally managed cooperative models can play a significant role in the national economy.
Meanwhile, Stephen, a representative of the Ministry of Cooperatives, welcomed this collaboration as a concrete step toward modernizing production cooperatives.
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“We hope this partnership will lead to strategic policies and pilot projects that position cooperatives as a driving force of Indonesia’s economy,” he said.
Through this collaboration, KNEKS, PUM, and the Ministry of Cooperatives are optimistic about creating globally competitive production cooperatives that contribute to national economic growth and strengthen the agro-maritime sector through downstreaming and industrialization. []
Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)
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