Jambi - State Minister for Cooperatives and Small and Medium Enterprises Suryadharma Ali said the government set to make women a new power of Indonesia's economy.

“Thus, the government is now empowering women through the gender equality principle,” the minister told students of Ikabama Foundation's Economic Institute here Saturday.

The minister's office has made a program on women in healthy families, who serve as managers of cooperatives, he said. Cooperatives will become a power to strengthen the foundation of the country's macro economy, he added. He cited Setia Bakti Wanita Cooperatives which is managed by women initially had capital amounting only to Rp10 million now its asset reached Rp80 billion.

The minister pointed out that the government would make women an instrument of cooperatives in line with the program on the micro financial development.
In addition, cooperatives would also be developed with the Syariah (Islamic law) pattern which was considered able to raise the people's economic growth compared to the conventional institutions. *ant