Jakarta, July 21 -- Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives (DPR), Cucun Ahmad Syamsurijal, has expressed the hope that the launch of Red and White Village Cooperatives will boost the economy of regions and thereby, support national growth.

Speaking at the Parliamentary Complex in Jakarta on Monday, Syamsurijal underlined that national development efforts must start from villages.

"Building Indonesia from the periphery means the villages must receive empowerment," he said.

He expressed the hope that the village cooperatives will yield benefits for the people, for instance, by absorbing agricultural products and meeting the basic needs of the community.

However, he also stressed that the cooperatives, whose establishment was ini...