REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) attended a Mandiri Entrepreneurship Award presentation ceremony at the Jakarta Convention Center (JCC) here on Thursday (12/3).

Cooperatives and SMEs Minister A.A. Puspayoga remarked that the number of entrepreneurs in Indonesia is only 1.65 percent of the country's population, and thus, the National Entrepreneurship Movement is a strategic move to boost entrepreneurship.

He noted that the number of entrepreneurs in Singapore is around seven percent of the population, and it is five percent respectively in Malaysia and Thailand.

"The movement is expected to increase the number of entrepreneurs to at least two percent," he stated.

The minister lauded the movement initiated by the state-owned Bank Mandiri.

"Some 98 percent of our businessmen are categorized as small and medium entrepreneurs, who either do business on their own or join cooperatives. They should be assisted in order to boost even development and prosperity," he emphasized.

President Jokowi was accompanied by Minister/State Secretary Pratikno, Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Culture Puan Maharani, and President Director of Bank Mandiri Budi G. Sadikin.

The SME sector contributes significantly to the economy, absorbing more than 90 percent of the domestic workforce and accounting for more than 50 percent of national gross domestic product (GDP).

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