TEMPO.CO, Surabaya - Bahlil Lahadalia, the chairman of the Indonesian Young Entrepreneurs Association (Hipmi) said that Indonesia needed more young entrepreneurs to support the country’s economy.
“Compared to neighboring countries, the number of Indonesian young entrepreneurs is still far below them,” Balil said in an opening speech at Himpi’s special national meeting in Surabaya on Saturday, November 7, 2015.
According to Bahlil, the number of Indonesian young entrepreneurs must at least account for 2 percent of the total population. However, Bahlil revealed that Indonesia’s young entrepreneurs currently accounted for 1.4 percent of the total population.
Bahlil added that the number of young entrepreneurs in Singapore and Malaysia accounted for 7 percent and 5 percent of their populations, respectively.
Bahlil suggested that a mental revolution needed to be promoted among students to boost the number of young entrepreneurs in Indonesia. Based on Hipmi’s research on Indonesian students’ career expectation, 83 percent of five million students preferred to be employees or civil servants.
Bank Indonesia governor Agus Martowardjojo said that the Indonesian people must prepare themselves to compete in the ASEAN Economic Community. Agus said that continuity and inclusivity were required to boost Indonesia’s economic growth.
To achieve higher economic growth, public, including young entrepreneurs must be able to improve their productivity and competitiveness in a bid to maintain Indonesia’s economic independence, as well as to remain competitive among other countries.
ARTIKA RACHMI FARMITA