Government pushes local retail plan

Indonesia’s villages minister is proposing a temporary halt on new modern-retail permits in rural areas, part of a broader push to steer more commerce back into villages. (en.antaranews.com) Villages Minister Yandri Susanto said on April 16 in Mataram, West Nusa Tenggara, that the moratorium would target permit issuance, not existing stores, and would redirect rural trade toward Red and White Village Cooperatives. Jakarta Globe separately reported in March that Yandri said outlets already operating in villages would not be shut down. (en.antaranews.com) (jakartaglobe.id) Yandri said large chains such as Alfamart and Indomaret had expanded to more than 40,000 outlets nationwide in 2025, including deeper into rural areas. He said village co-ops would instead handle groceries, savings and loans, logistics, pharmacies and clinics, with at least 20% of profits booked as village revenue. (en.antaranews.com) The retail proposal lands as President Prabowo Subianto’s government builds a much larger village-cooperative program. ANTARA reported in January that 27,191 Red and White Village Cooperatives were under construction and that the government still aimed for 80,000 units by the end of 2026. (en.antaranews.com) That 80,000-cooperative target was set under Presidential Instruction No. 9 of 2025 and tied by the government to Prabowo’s longer-term growth agenda. ANTARA’s April 2025 explainer said the administration framed village co-ops as a way to turn local farm, fishery, handicraft and tourism output into village-level income. (en.antaranews.com) On April 17, Prabowo added another layer by creating a national task force to speed up government programs tied to economic growth. Presidential Decision No. 4 of 2026 put Coordinating Economic Minister Airlangga Hartarto in charge, with 27 ministers and agency heads, including the police chief, listed as members. (en.antaranews.com) The task force reports directly to the president and is supposed to coordinate stimulus, economic packages, budget execution and other priority programs. It must meet at least once every two months, and the Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs will serve as its secretariat. (en.antaranews.com) Police moved in parallel on April 16, saying they had formed a law-enforcement task force to pursue smuggling cases that cut into state revenue. Brig. Gen. Ade Safri Simanjuntak said the unit would target under-invoicing inside customs zones as well as “physical smuggling” outside official checkpoints, with regional police offices setting up similar teams. (en.antaranews.com) The combined message from Jakarta is that village co-ops, permit controls, growth coordination and anti-smuggling enforcement are being folded into one economic policy drive in April 2026. The next test is whether the proposed retail freeze moves from ministerial pitch to formal rule while the cooperative build-out reaches the scale the government has promised. (en.antaranews.com 1) (en.antaranews.com 2)