Indonesia Proposes Changes To Large-Scale Cooperative Criteria

Jakarta, Dec 7 (ANTARA) - The Indonesian Cooperatives and Small and Medium Enterprises Ministry has proposed changes to ICA`s large-scale cooperative criteria. The ministry has shared these changes with the International Cooperatives Alliance (ICA). "We are negotiating with the ICA on the criteria for large-scale cooperatives," said Sjarifuddin Hasan, Cooperatives and Small and Medium Enterprises Minister, on Friday. He said the ideal large scale cooperative is not based on capital assets alone. According to him, large scale cooperatives should be based on the number of participants. He said since there are no strict guidelines on the number of participants in a cooperative, the number of members should reflect the cooperative base. "Greater value can be derived with a higher number of participants," said the Minister. "The ICA believes that our concept has some value, which is why it has requested our team to hold a discussion on the concept," the Minister added. He said the appointment of a world-level cooperative on a large-scale is still under discussion. The minister believes that there are a number of local cooperatives that will be included in the world-level cooperatives list.