OPENING WIDER OPPORTUNITIES FOR YOUNG INDONESIANS TO BECOME ENTREPRENEURS by Fardah

Jakarta, May 25, 2016 Antara)- The Indonesian government needs to carry out bureaucratic and economic reforms to provide facilities and improve the business climate that will enable several young people to become entrepreneurs.

         The measures are needed to respond to President Joko Widodo's (Jokowi's) concern over the shortage of entrepreneurs in Indonesia, which is only 1.6 percent of its total population.   
    Jokowi believes that Indonesia still needs millions of new entrepreneurs to be able to reach two to five percent of the country's total population.

         "We still need 1.7 to 1.8 million, or even up to 5.8 million entrepreneurs more to reach four percent," Jokowi stated in his opening remarks at the Jamboree of the Young Indonesian Entrepreneurs Association of ASEAN universities in Bandung, West Java, recently.

         The number of entrepreneurs in Indonesia currently only reaches some 1.6 percent of its total population; while in ASEAN, the figure averages at four percent; Singapore, at seven percent; Malaysia, at six percent; Thailand, five percent; and Vietnam, three percent.

         "The change we need to bring about is to offer wider opportunities to the younger generation to do business," the president affirmed.    

    As noted sociologist David McClelland had stated, a country can evolve into a developed nation if the number of its entrepreneurs reaches more than two percent of its population.

        Meanwhile, Singapore still holds the highest global competitiveness index among ASEAN member countries at 5.68 percent; Malaysia, 5.23 percent; Thailand, 4.64 percent; and Indonesia, 4.52 percent.

        In addition, Indonesia also needs to bring about several changes to improve its global competitiveness index, he pointed out.

         "For boosting our competitiveness, we have to move ahead dynamically. We have pushed the deregulation packages. We do not delay infrastructure projects either in Java or several more outside Java," the president added.

        Better infrastructure will improve our competitiveness and reduce logistics costs.

          "Our fear to compete with others has contributed to that small number (of entrepreneurs)," he noted.

          There would be no other way to encourage more Indonesians to run businesses but to have the courage to compete, he stated while addressing some four thousand participants from various parts of Indonesia and five ASEAN member countries.

         The head of state, however, pointed out that those keen on becoming entrepreneurs not only need to have the courage and spirit but should also be attuned to the rapid growth in the field of information technology.

         "We know that goods are not only traded directly at malls but also through online stores and e-commerce sites, such as Alibaba, eBay, Lazada, Bukalapak, Traveloka, and Blibli," he stated.

          The supply chain of raw materials is also well-distributed globally, so they cannot be restricted, he remarked.   
    Furthermore, Vice President Jusuf M. Kalla had encouraged more Indonesians to become entrepreneurs during a speech at the ASEAN SME Partnership Meeting 2015 held in Jakarta last November.   
    "Entrepreneurial spirit needs to be constantly intensified and encouraged, given that a major percentage of Indonesian entrepreneurs still manage micro and small enterprises," Kalla pointed out.

         The vice president emphasized the need to improve the quality of entrepreneurs, so micro-, small-, and medium-sized entrepreneurs can advance to the next level, which in turn will help to improve the overall prosperity and later contribute to the nation's development.

         Microenterprises and small and medium enterprises (SMEs) have been recognized as one of the effective means to reduce poverty and unemployment, he remarked.

         Kalla has supported the entrepreneurship movement primarily in the SME sector, which has been linked to domestic resources, such as agriculture, fisheries, marine industries, forestry, mining, and other natural resources, and were not dependent on imported materials but created jobs instead.    
    However, an official recently expressed concern that the target to churn out new entrepreneurs could end up in a damp squib if the government slashed budget allocations to ministries and government institutions.

        Finance Minister Bambang Brodjonegoro recently hinted that the government may have to cut its spending by Rp50.6 trillion this year due to weaker-than-expected revenue in 2016.     ***3***
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(T.F001/A/BESSR/F. Assegaf) 25-05-2016 16:14:22