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Parliament supports KPPPA: empowering women as entrepreneurs

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IO – Member of Commission VIII DPR RI M Husni supports the plan of the Ministry of Women’s Empowerment and Child Protection (KPPPA) to create entrepreneurship training specifically for women. According to him, this step is a form of the seriousness of the Government in increasing empowerment for women. “Based on the explanation from the Minister, this should increase the empowerment of women in the field of entrepreneurship; of course this must be encouraged,” said Husni at the Parliament’ Commission VIII Working Meeting with the Minister of Women’s Empowerment and Child Protection (PPPA) I Gusti Ayu Bintang Darmawati at the Indonesian Parliament Building, Senayan, Jakarta, Tuesday (22/09/2020). 

This Gerindra Party politician said that during the COVID-19 pandemic, more and more people were affected by layoffs, which resulted in economic hardship. For this reason, increasing women’s empowerment in the field of entrepreneurship can help ease the burden on families. The legislator for the North Sumatra I electoral district hopes that KPPPA’s plan to increase women’s empowerment in entrepreneurship can be implemented immediately and comprehensively in every region of Indonesia. “The plan must be implemented immediately and evenly distributed from Aceh, Papua, Java, Sumatra, to Sulawesi,” he hoped. 

Previously, the Minister of Women’s Empowerment and Child Protection (PPPA), I Gusti Ayu Bintang Darmawati, said that the potential and role of women in the economic sector as business actors is enormous. Based on “Data on the Development of Micro, Small, Medium, and Large Enterprises in Indonesia for 2014-2018”, out of a total of 64 million business units, 99.99% of businesses in Indonesia are Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs). Based on a survey from the World Bank (2016), more than 50% of micro and small enterprises are owned by women. 

The results of a survey of Indonesian MSMEs of around 237 respondents during COVID-19 (June 2020) showed business actors who were still surviving, and even thrive with an increase in turnover were those who exploited online trade. This finding is also supported by a MarkPlus survey which reported that online retail shopping transactions increased from 4.7 percent to 28.9 percent during the COVID-19 pandemic. On the other hand, offline shopping transactions dropped dramatically in the same period, from 52.3 percent to 28.9 percent. In conclusion, there is a significant shift in people’s consumption patterns towards digital, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. For this reason, digitization towards industry 4.0 is a necessity. Online trading will help MSMEs in Indonesia grow faster and become more competitive. This is because the online market reaches consumers more widely, considering that it is not limited by time or space. 

“MSMEs have an important and strategic role in national economic development. For this reason, women as business actors are very instrumental in supporting the nation’s economy. If we look at history, during the crisis in 1998, MSMEs were still able to survive and were even able to save the Indonesian economy. I am sure that MSMEs in Indonesia have the potential to help economic recovery, due to the current pandemic by utilizing access to technology, going online, and becoming a new motor of economic growth. Through adaptation to technology and the use of e-commerce, women who drive micro-businesses have the potential to dominate the market and continue to increase their economic contribution to the nation. Through this opportunity, I need to remind you that digital-literate women are a must,” said Minister I Gusti Ayu Bintang. (dan) 

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