REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) has stated that out of the seven startup unicorns owned by young entrepreneurs in the 10 ASEAN countries, four are from Indonesia. He added that Indonesian young people have good qualities and excellence compared to those from other countries.
"There is Nadiem Makarim from Go-Jek, Zaki from Bukalapak, and so on. This means that our young people are very competitive and do not feel inferior," Jokowi noted in a statement received by Antara here on Wednesday.
He also stated that Indonesian youths frequently win science Olympiads or other international competitions. The president hoped that Indonesian youths should be able to respond to the current global changes to make them be able to face the intense competition in the global arena.
Go-jek CEO Nadiem Makarim
"I believe that Indonesian young people, especially the Muhammadiyah Student Association members, have no fear in competing with other countries. There is no need to fear while competing with other countries," Jokowi remarked, when giving a speech to the Muhammadiyah Student Association (IPM) at Muhammadiyah University in Sidoarjo, East Java, on Monday (Nov 19).
Founder & CEO Bukalapak Achmad Zaki
Jokowi asserted that the young people should be able to bring positive changes for Indonesia. McKinsey Global Institute estimates that Indonesia will be one of the four largest economies in the world by 2045.
"That is the time when all of you will become someone," he revealed.
Currently, Indonesia has four startup unicorns, whose valuation amount to over US$1 billion. They are online transportation company, Go-jek; online shopping platforms named Bukalapak and Tokopedia; and an online ticket and hotel booking services, Traveloka. The Indonesian government is carrying out a national program to generate one thousand digital startups, of which 10 are expected to be unicorns.
The government considered that there are three types of digital fields that have great possibility to become unicorns, namely education technology (edutech), health technology, and financial technology (fintech).
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