Jakarta, March 7 -- President Prabowo Subianto aims to establish the Red and White Village Cooperative (Kopdes) in 70 thousand villages by 2025 to protect rural communities from loan sharks and illegal online loans.

"According to the president, the cooperative is intended to cut off loan sharks, middlemen, or online loans that ensnare and become a source of poverty in villages," Minister of Cooperatives Budi Arie Setiadi remarked at the Presidential Palace Complex in Jakarta on Friday.

The minister explained that the cooperative will offer funding to village residents through a savings and loan unit, with a scheme aligned with their capabilities.

The minister remarked that the cooperative is also expected to liberate villagers from mul...