Jakarta, July 28 -- Coordinating Minister for Food Affairs Zulkifli Hasan assured the public that the Red and White Village Cooperatives (KDMP) program will not harm micro, small, and medium enterprises, including warungs, modest family-owned stores typically selling groceries.

"I would like to stress that village cooperatives are not stores; they are not supermarkets. Rest assured, there will be no issues for warungs and all sorts of retail outlets. All businesses can complement one another," he remarked in Jakarta on Tuesday.

Speaking at a press conference on the draft presidential regulation on KDMP implementation, Hasan noted that village cooperatives are intended to serve as supporting infrastructure for expanding the distribution ...