The Indonesian Ministry of Youth and Sports in collaboration with UGM held a lecture of 2020 Youth Entrepreneurship 2020 on Thursday (7/23). This lecture was organized online through the Zoom platform and the UGM Character Development Youtube channel.
Dr. H. Zainuddin Amali, M.S., Menpora RI, said this lecture was one of the ministry's priority programs in building superior human resources, especially youth, through entrepreneurship. He said it was essential to improve the ratio of entrepreneurs to the population.
"Starting in 2020, the number of entrepreneurs only reached 3.5 per cent of the population. This number is relatively small compared to other countries, such as Malaysia 5 per cent, Singapore 7 per cent, Japan 11 per cent, the US 12 per cent, and even China up to 10 per cent. The appropriate number for 270 million population should be at least 6 per cent," he explained.
Moreover, Zainuddin explained the development necessity of the entrepreneurship selection because there appeared a considerable amount of unemployment. The data recorded before as many as 7 million people are unemployed. As a result of the pandemic, many companies went bankrupt, causing the number to swell.
Therefore, Zainuddin emphasized entrepreneurship as a way to rebuild this nation. That is not to mention the demographic bonus challenge that has its peak in 2020-2024.
"Using entrepreneurship, we want our young generation to no longer think of looking for comfortable jobs, such as becoming ASNs or corporate employees, both BUMN and private. Instead of those, they will be more motivated to open their businesses, having further creative thinking so that they can open new jobs for others," he explained.
For this, Zainuddin said that his party was organizing this program. The Youth Entrepreneurship Program aims to instil and develop a mindset for entrepreneurship in Indonesian youth. Those mindsets are to be always independent, creative, and innovative.
Zainuddin said Kemenpora Ri has now collaborated with 28 tertiary institutions related to this program. "Our first target is students. That's because the academic environment forms the character and commitment to learning. The elite layer on this campus will be lighter for other layers which have not had the opportunity to study. Not only through this lecture, but we have also planned that entrepreneurship becomes a compulsory subject for students," he explained.
Therefore, Zainuddin expressed his appreciation to UGM for being willing to be the first place to implement this program. He also thanked UGM's commitment so far in fostering an entrepreneurial spirit to its students.
According to Prof. Ir. Panut Mulyono, M. Eng., D. Eng., IPU, ASEAN Eng., prioritizing entrepreneurship for young people is already very suitable for the current conditions, both pandemics and demographic bonuses.
"Indonesia is a country with plentiful natural resources and human resources. We must be able to manage it well for the prosperity of this country. Thus, let's work together and work together across fields and generations so we can work to provide solutions for the country's problems," he concluded.
Author: Hakam
Translator: Natasa A