Jakarta (ANTARA) – Cooperatives Minister Ferry Juliantono highlighted his ministry's support for strengthening mosque-based cooperatives as centers for community economic turnover.While inaugurating the cooperative of the Indonesian Mosque-Loving Community (MCMI) at the Sunda Kelapa Mosque in Jakarta on Saturday (March 14), he emphasized that mosques should not only function as places of worship but also as hubs for community economic empowerment.He underlined in a press release on Sunday that the Ministry of Cooperatives is fully committed to mentoring, coaching, and providing financing access for mosque-based cooperatives.“The ministry's role is to develop cooperatives. We have the Revolving Fund Management Agency (LPDB) ready to help expand MCMI's cooperative activities,” he said.Juliantono expressed hope that MCMI could serve as a model for mosque-based cooperatives in other regions, following the success of Islamic boarding school-based cooperatives in East Java, which now hold trillions of rupiah in assets.To achieve this, he affirmed that the ministry is ready to collaborate with the Indonesian Mosque Council (DMI) and the Ministry of Religious Affairs to create a systematic roadmap for developing mosque-based cooperatives.Furthermore, he encouraged the mosque-based cooperatives to become producers of essential goods, which would then be marketed through the retail networks of Red and White Village Cooperatives.The minister also emphasized the role of mosque-based cooperatives as microfinance institutions that protect small business owners from illegal lending practices.According to him, many micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) near mosques still operate individually and are at risk of being marginalized because they lack formal business entities.In this regard, cooperatives serve as legal umbrellas that provide both access to capital and legal protection.General Chairman of the MCMI National Board, Wisnu Dewanto, added that the mosque ecosystem holds great potential for community empowerment.With approximately 900,000 mosques across Indonesia, he expressed his confidence that collaboration between ministries will deliver a significant impact.Dewanto noted that the MCMI's cooperative has assisted at least 100 MSME players around the Sunda Kelapa Mosque through collaboration with various partners.