REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, LARANTUKA -- East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) Governor Frans Lebu Raya said that assets of cooperatives in that province were valued at Rp3 trillion by the end of 2014 or almost the same as the provincial income and expenditure budget of Rp3.2 trillion.

"NTT has 3,110 units of cooperative. They have expanded over the past several years. The assets were valued at around Rp3 trillion. This is impressive," Frans Lebu Raya said here on Saturday.

He said since he took over as NTT governor, he had continued the campaign to encourage villagers to open cooperatives to join force to face domination of capitalism.

"Only through cooperatives small people could have a significant bargaining power that they are not easily falling victim to capitalism," the governor said.

The governor said currently almost all cooperatives in the province function as lending cooperatives.

"Only a few operate as productive cooperatives, he added.

The plan ahead is to encourage development of productive cooperatives that will give greater beneficial for their members, he said.

Fishermen's cooperatives, for example, could provide credits for the procurement of fishing boats, he cited.

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