Youth Studies Center (YouSure) FISIPOL UGM together with Kemenpora RI and BRI hold competitions and expo of Indonesian Young Sociopreneur (Soprema) UGM again to commit in advancing and developing the potential of young Indonesian entrepreneurs.
“Through Soprema, we want to inspire young people from across the country to develop social entrepreneurship,” said YouSure Director, Dr. Najib Azca on Thursday (2/5) during the 2019 Soprema Launching Press Conference at UGM.
Soprema is an annual activity that has been regularly held since 2016. In this 4th event, the theme is “Express Your Creative Passions”. Unlike previous year, this year Soprema added a national sociopreneur vlog competition other than regular activities such as young sociopreneur competitions, expos, incubations, and seminars.
This year, Soprema covers four themes, technology and services, agriculture and maritime affairs, ecology and tourism, and creative industries. A series of Soprema activities have begun today, Thursday (2/5), starting with the opening of registration for young sociopreneur and national sociopreneur vlog competitions until 30 August 2019.
Soprema director, Dr. Hempri Suyatna, said that this is his 4th year of organizing Soprema. Held since 2016, the number of participants who take part has been increasing from year to year. At the beginning of the event, there were 500 participants from 22 provinces and it kept increasing until 2018 in which more than 1,000 participants from 31 provinces participated in this event.
Dean of the Faculty of Social and Political Sciences UGM (FISIPOL UGM), Dr. Erwan Agus Purwanto, explained that this event is the faculty’s commitment to always support the younger generation to prepare themselves for an era of increasingly fierce global competition. Amidst the industrial revolution 4.0, many jobs were lost, but this revolution also created new job opportunities.
“Soprema is an effort to prepare young people for change,” he said.
Erwan said that through Soprema, young people are trained to have sensitivity to problems that exist in society. It also fosters creativity and innovation to solve existing problems.
“It is hoped that this event will nurture prospective young Indonesian leaders who are able to compete at national and global levels,” he explained.
UGM Rector, Prof. Ir. Panut Mulyono, M.Eng., D.Eng., expressed his appreciation to FISIPOL UGM for organizing Soprema. It can be seen that participants are getting more and more excited each year from various parts of Indonesia. This has become a good asset in developing and reducing the gap of economic activities throughout Indonesia.
“Soprema encourages young people to be active and creative in sociopreneurship which is in line with the government’s aspiration to increase the number of entrepreneurs in Indonesia,” he said.
Currently, the number of entrepreneurs in Indonesia has only reached around 3 to 4 percent of the total population. Meanwhile, several countries of ASEAN have had entrepreneurs in the range of 7-8 percent, and in developed countries it has reached 14 percent.
“Indonesia is only at 3-4 percent. This must be pursued continuously as the number of entrepreneurs determines the country’s economic activities,” he said.
Panut said that through Soprema, it is hoped to produce new sociopreneurs who empower the wider community in running businesses, opening up opportunities for the community to contribute in driving the country’s economy.
