Indonesia’s Prabowo Rolls Out First of 80,000 ‘Red-White’ Cooperatives to Boost Economic Growth

President Prabowo Subianto launched the first of thousands of planned community cooperatives, betting on a top-down approach and billions of dollars in loans from Indonesia’s state banks to spur development and food self-sufficiency in the Southeast Asian nation.

Prabowo, speaking Monday at a launch event in the central Java town of Klaten, said the drive would help shorten distribution chains and improve access to essential goods across Indonesia’s sprawling archipelago. Economically vulnerable communities, in particular, “must have access at affordable prices,” he said.