More than 1,000 female entrepreneurs participated in the National Women’s Congress, which was held at Grha Sabha Pramana UGM on Thursday (Nov. 28).
With the theme “Women’s Economic Progress,” this National Women’s Forum was a collaboration between UGM, the Regional Office of Women’s Empowerment, Child Protection, and Population Control (DP3AP2) of the DIY Provincial Government, and Exporthub.id, aiming to promote women’s MSME products to go global.
UGM Vice-Rector for Education and Teaching, Professor Wening Udasmoro, stated that the collaboration had resulted in 51 MSMEs going global via e-commerce, 102 local MSMEs onboarding to e-commerce, and three products becoming partners with Exporthub.id, entering local and global markets.
Additionally, 422 students have become affiliates of Exporthub.id to market DIY women’s MSME products.
Professor Udasmoro emphasized that universities have a mandate to educate society, especially women. Women in the creative industry still face challenges in capacity building and skill development, particularly in mastering information technology for digital marketing.
“Some sectors still show low female participation,” she said.
She added that few women possess the capacity and competence to engage in the creative industry. Therefore, universities are responsible for enhancing women’s competencies in creative MSME product development.
“Achieving this goal requires collaboration among bureaucrats, academics, corporations, communities, and mentors,” she added.
Amalia Prabowo, President Director of Exporthub, highlighted that although women dominate the MSME sector, only about 24% of women are involved in e-commerce businesses. This skill gap necessitates capacity development through student involvement.
“We involve students to help MSME players reach markets and operate efficiently,” she explained.
Prabowo noted the vast potential of the e-commerce market, especially with internet penetration in Indonesia reaching around 79%. However, social media management requires dedicated teams.
“We not only provide training but also intensive mentoring,” she said.
Meanwhile, Suci Hendrina, Head of CSR and Corporate Communication at Paragon Group, said that women have equal job opportunities as men. She noted that approximately 80% of Paragon employees are women.
“Most of Paragon’s workforce consists of women. Starting as a home industry in 1985 with just two employees, we now have 14,000 employees,” she explained.
Erlina Hidayati Sumardi, Head of DP3AP2 DIY, stated that women entrepreneurs often begin their businesses due to a lack of job opportunities. The Jogja Women’s Forum acts as a facilitator to address the barriers and challenges faced by women in the economic sector.
“This forum aims to discuss concrete steps and implementations to strengthen commitments between the government, private sector, universities, and other sectors,” said Sumardi.
Additionally, the congress provided integrated consulting services for women aspiring to start businesses.
The event featured booths offering MSME consultations from the DIY Cooperatives Office, Business Identification Number (NIB) consultations from the Investment and Integrated Service Office, Food Distribution Permit consultations from the Food and Drug Supervisory Agency, and Certificate of Origin (SKA) creation services from the Industry and Trade Office.
Author: Tasya
Editor: Gusti Grehenson
Photographer: Donnie
Post-editor: Afif