REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- Association of Indonesian Social Entrepreneurship Chairman Bambang Ismawan urged President-elect Joko Widodo, better known as Jokowi, to improve the competitiveness of micro enterprises to be ready to face the ASEAN Economic Community 2015 (AEC 2015).
"The new government should be more serious about handling the issues faced by micro enterprises such as limited capital, business management, and limitation of product marketing in order to support the people's economy," Bambang remarked here on Wednesday.
He explained that currently, there are 55,856,176 micro enterprises in the country, and 98.8 percent of them supported the economy of the Indonesian society.
"The next government should pay attention to the presence of micro enterprises because they are in large numbers and have the potential to expand rapidly," he pointed out.
Therefore, he believed that they should be empowered to reduce poverty and the burden on the public.
"If properly empowered, the micro enterprises will develop into small- and even medium-sized businesses," he stated, adding that the micro business sectors included primary and secondary activities in agriculture, plantation, animal husbandry, fisheries, small craftsmen, tailors, and other small-scale food producers; and tertiary micro businesses such as transportation, leasing of houses or lands, and means of production, and others.
"Currently, the micro entrepreneurs find it difficult to access venture capital and develop their business competitiveness, and therefore, the next government should pay attention to their requirements," he remarked.
A BBC survey indicated that Indonesia is the best place for entrepreneurs to start a business.
The results are derived from the survey covering more than 24 thousand respondents from across 24 countries, which showed that Indonesia emerged as the most favorable location for entrepreneurs and was also ranked among the top countries such as the US, Canada, and Australia.
The survey results showed that all the developed economies received an above-average score, with the exception of Italy, which was far below.
Ikuti Whatsapp Channel Republika