JAKARTA TO UTILIZE MOMENTUM OF ASIAN GAMES TO BOOST MSMEs by Fardah

 Jakarta, Feb 8, 2018 (Antara) - The 18th Asian Games, a regional sporting event for Asian nations, will be co-hosted by Jakarta and Palembang, South Sumatra, simultaneously from August 18 to September 2, 2018.

        This will be the second time that Indonesia will host the Asian Games after the first one was held in Jakarta in 1962.

        After more than five decades, the Asian Games will finally return to Indonesia's capital city of Jakarta, a metropolitan hosting more than 12 million people during the work week.

        Some 9.5 thousand athletes, 2.5 thousand personnel of the Asian Olympic Council, and 5.5 thousand technical delegates from 45 countries will participate or be involved in the event. At least 3.5 thousand media representatives are expected to cover the event.

        The presence of such a large number of people from various countries offers a good opportunity for Jakarta and Palembang to promote their tourist destinations and products of micro, small, and medium scale enterprises (MSMEs).

        The 2018 Asian Games offers the necessary momentum to boost the capital city's economy, Jakarta Deputy Governor Sandiaga Salahudin Uno remarked.

        Uno has encouraged some 20 thousand small and medium entrepreneurs to produce and sell souvenirs during the largest regional sporting event in the Asian continent.

        "The 2018 Asian Games offers the best momentum to boost the capital city's economy by involving MSMEs. It is time for us to create job opportunities," Uno, a successful businessman, noted recently.

        Uno remarked that souvenirs produced by MSMEs will cater to the needs and interests of athletes, officials, spectators, and tourists.

        "The souvenirs can be in the form of key chains, dolls, t-shirts, and recycled handicraft products. We will prepare business locations at strategic places," he asserted.

        Uno revealed that the Jakarta government will coordinate with the 2018 Indonesian Asian Games Organizing Committee (INASGOC) to facilitate small and medium enterprises to set up booths for selling their products, such as souvenirs, food, and beverage.

        He will ensure that the products will be on display in the front to catch the attention of potential buyers in market stalls to be set up near the Asian Games venues.

        The Jakarta Creative Hub has produced several creative products that could be offered during the largest sports event in Asia.

        The One Sub-district, One Center Entrepreneurship program of the Jakarta government will also encourage women to produce various products that could create job opportunities, Uno noted following the signing of a cooperation agreement with a non-governmental organization called Perempuan Indonesia Raya, or Great Indonesian Women.    
   Supporting Uno's plan, Adhi Lukman, chairman of the Indonesian Food and Beverage Entrepreneurs Association, had earlier stated that this international sporting event holds huge business potential.

        Japan, which will host the 2020 Summer Olympic Games, for instance, has contemplated on the importance of culinary tourism by providing halal foods to foreign visitors visiting the country, he pointed out.

        In addition to the 18th Asian Games, Jakarta will host the Third Asian Para Games to be held on Oct 6-13 this year. Some three thousand differently abled athletes and one thousand officials from 43 Asian countries will participate in the Asian Para Games.   
   The Asian Games countdown kickoff was inaugurated by President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) in Jakarta in August 2017, and the countdown of the Asian Para Games was commissioned by Vice President M. Jusuf Kalla at the Jakarta International Expo, Kemayoran area, on October 6, 2017.

        The Asian Games 2018 is the most important event in Jakarta next year, so promotion efforts have been intensified by placing more advertising banners in public areas. Jakarta is optimistic that every Jakartan would be aware of and feel proud of the Asian Games.

        Uno has instructed his subordinates to promote the games next year in residential areas of the capital city.

        "We have ordered the provincial administration's apparatus, including those operating at the neighborhood level, to promote the Asian Games," Uno informed reporters on December 12, 2017.

        Intensified promotion is necessary, as currently, not every inhabitant of Jakarta is aware of the Asian Games, according to Uno.

        INASGOC has allocated funds amounting to Rp70 billion to produce accessories depicting the Asian Games' logo, mascot, banners, and posters, among others.    
   In July last year, three humanoid animal characters were unveiled to the public in Jakarta as the new mascots of the 18th Asian Games.

        The mascots are named Bhin-Bhin, a bird of paradise locally known as Cenderawasih of Papua; Atung, a Bawean deer (Axis kuhlii) of East Java; and Kaka, a one-horned rhino (Rhinoceros sondaicus) of Ujung Kulon (Java Island).

        Inspiration for these names was derived from the official national motto of Indonesia Bhinneka Tunggal Ika, which translates to "Unity in Diversity."
   The mascots also deliver a message of nature conservation to the world, as environmental campaigns featuring these animals have gained popularity.

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(T.F001/A/BESSR/A. Abdussalam) 08-02-2018