Minister of Cooperatives and Small and Medium Enterprises Teten Masduki hopes that students participating in Student Community Service–Community Empowerment Learning (KKN-PPM) this year can help develop micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in their respective locations.
Minister Teten Masduki conveyed this during the send-off ceremony on Friday (23/6) at UGM Central Building. Seven thousand seventy-nine students from 19 faculties will serve in 31 provinces, 97 regencies, 204 districts, and over 400 villages across Indonesia.
The minister stated that the students in their KKN locations would meet with MSME practitioners as MSMEs dominate the economic structure in Indonesia.
“99.9% of businesses in Indonesia are MSMEs. So, in your respective regions, you will meet small traders, craftspeople, small-scale farmers, and others,” he said.
In addition to assisting in business development, Minister Masduki asked UGM students to learn to become entrepreneurs. President Jokowi is preparing a grand roadmap for Indonesia to become an advanced country by 2045 and one of the world’s top five economic powers.
Apart from building infrastructure throughout Indonesia, the government is also streamlining bureaucratic processes, making it more service-oriented, and enhancing the quality of education of human resources (civil servants) who manage it.
“Another aspect of becoming an advanced country is preparing resilient entrepreneurs. Currently, Indonesia only has 3.47% entrepreneurs, whereas advanced countries have a minimum of 4%,” he explained.
This condition puts Indonesia far behind neighboring countries such as Malaysia, Thailand, and Singapore. The entrepreneurship rate in these three countries is above 4%. Meanwhile, most advanced countries have an entrepreneurship ratio of around 12%.
“The hope is that after completing the KKN, you will be inspired to develop businesses and build platforms to help farmers in rural areas and MSMEs so that they are not trapped in micro-scale businesses,” he said.
He added that students were expected to inspire the community and, upon their return to campus, bring back notes to prepare Indonesia to become an advanced country.
Author: Ika
Photographer: Donnie
Source: Minister Teten Masduki Hopes KKN Students Assist MSMEs