Ministry Develop 26 Entrepreneurs Under Creative Business Program

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Ministry of Industry is developing 26 young entrepreneurs under a Creative Business Incubator 2018 program for small and medium-scale businesses (SMI) of the craft and mode sectors, a senior official said.

"Through this program creative SMI business beginners in the craft and mode sectors will be given training and field assistance so that they can develop their business," SMI Director General of the Ministry of Industry Gati Wibawaningsih said on Sunday.

According to Gati, the program is quite crucial considering that many beginner creative business people are able to run their business but experience problems when they will increase their business capacity.

In its guidance, the Ministry of Industry collaborated with the renowned business school Prasetya Mulya.

The program which was attended by entrepreneurs aged 24-28 years will be carried out in two stages, where the first stage is through a camp session which will be held in Jakarta on October 21 to December 15, 2018.

This recruitment is carried out openly through social media and through the `Creative Talk` program by inviting creative actors such as Brodo, Duanyam, Ni Luh Djelantik and the Indonesian Angel Investor Network (ANGIN).

The creative business actors who registered for the program were 425 people, and then they were selected of which 26 people passed the selection.

"I hope that after participating in this program, the participants will increase their knowledge, capacity, so that their business will progress," said Gati.

In the meantime, the Ministry of Industry also continues a program which is aimed at providing machinery and equipment for small and medium industries (SMIs).

In 2014-2017 the program was applied to 380 SMIs. The machinery and equipment provided by the ministry included transportation, furniture, metals, and chemicals.

"The program of providing machinery and production-supporting equipment is aimed at increasing the productivity of SMIs and to boost their competitiveness in domestic and export markets," Gati Wibawaningsih, said in a statement received by Antara on Sunday.

According to Gati, this strategic program has been implemented since 2009. In 2009-2012, the program was applied for SMIs engaged in clothing production. "After 2012, this program is available for all SMIs sectors," she said.

According to Gati, the production-equipment supply program was given in the form of discount by 30 percent for SMIs to purchase machinery or equipment made in Indonesia.

Meanwhile, SMIs which buy foreign-made machinery or equipment could get a discount by 25 percent.

"This program is very helpful for SMIs, especially in reducing equipment purchasing cost. This program is expected to increase production," she said.

ANTARA