Investment Minister Wants 6% of Indonesia's Population to Become Entrepreneurs

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Investment Minister/Head of the Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) Bahlil Lahadalia hopes that the number of Indonesian entrepreneurs can increase to 6.0 percent of the population. Right now, there are 3.4 percent.

"The number of our national entrepreneurs is only 3.4 percent, ideally it should be 12 percent. Singapore, the United States have 12 percent. We don't need 12 percent, six percent is enough," he said at the 2021 Millennial-Owned Enterprises Festival (UMKM) held online on Thursday, October 28.

Bahlil said that anyone can enter economic sectors by becoming entrepreneurs, including becoming SME actors.

The government has provided easy licensing facilities for MSME actors, as stated in the Job Creation Law and its derivative rules. One of them is the Online Single Submission (OSS), electronic-based licensing system.

"The OSS is an instrument the state prepared for all business actors, including MSMEs, to obtain permits quickly, properly, efficiently and transparently. Even for MSMEs, NIB (Enterprise Identification Number), halal certificates and SNI (Indonesian National Standard) are paid for by the government, a.k.a. free," he said.

In addition to facilitating licensing, the government also limits investment in business sectors with a capital below Rp10 billion, so that foreign investments do not enter. Thus, the segment is only open to MSMEs.

"Even in Article 90 of the Job Creation Law, it is the obligation of the central and regional governments to collaborate with top domestic and foreign entrepreneurs. We at the Investment Ministry have implemented this," Bahlil said. 

Read: BKPM: Investment Proportion Outside Java Reaches 50.5%

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