Encouraging Papuan MSMEs to Rise

Agustina, the craftsman of Samah Dori, is very grateful that the Papua Coffee & MSME Festival was held. His trade is selling well, per day he earns between IDR 300,000 – IDR 700,000.

The government’s alignment with the micro, small and medium enterprise (MSME) sector is very clear and concrete. This form of partisanship is not only for MSME actors at the national level, but also for MSME actors in the regions.

In the midst of organizing the XX Papua National Sports Week (PON), PB PON and a number of district/city governments in the three cities where the sporting event was held, namely Jayapura, Timika, and Merauke, did not only hold sports competitions. Along with that, exhibitions involving MSME actors were also held.

In Jayapura City, the city government in collaboration with Bank Indonesia will hold the 2021 Jayapura City Coffee and MSME Festival. The festival will be held in the Mesran Terminal Area, Jl Koti, Jayapura City, which will take place since October 3, 2021.

The people who came to the festival in front of Jayapura Bay were quite enthusiastic. SMEs actors are also quite satisfied, because their merchandise sells well.

“We are very grateful for this festival. Our sales average Rp. 300,000-Rp. 700,000 per day,” said Agustina, a handicraft maker with the trademark Samah Dori happily.

Agustina sells souvenir knick-knacks of noken bags, bracelets, and necklaces typical of Papua. “We are greatly helped by the existence of this festival in the middle of PON XX Papua. Many visitors from PON buy our products,” he said.

Likewise, the Harvest Papua Coffee shop was surprised by the arrival of the Minister of Youth and Sports (Menpora) Zainuddin Amali, General Chair of KONI Marciano Norman, and Jayapura Mayor Benhur Mano who was accompanied by the Head of the Bank Indonesia Papua Representative Office, Naek Tigor Sinaga.

“We are very grateful for the arrival of the Menpora and the Chairman of the Central KONI. The transaction was extraordinary,” said Yan, the owner of Harvest Papua Coffee.

At the festival, Harvest Coffee sells and provides Arabica coffee from Wamena, Jayawijaya Mountains. become the main favorite of festival goers. Besides Wamena coffee, several variants of coffee from Papua are also served at the festival.

In the midst of his visit to the festival, Menpora Zainudin Amali was asked to close the event. Previously, the event was opened by the Minister of Social Affairs, Tri Rismaharini.

The Papua Provincial Government and PB PON XX Papua are indeed serious enough to lift the economy of the easternmost province of Indonesia. In addition, encouraging the growth of new shoots in sports through organizing the PON party.

At the Papua Coffee Festival and MSMEs in Jayapura City, at least 100 MSMEs were involved in the festival. This activity was supported by Bank Indonesia (BI) Papua Representatives and the Jayapura City Government.

How are transactions during the festival? The festival deals are quite encouraging. According to Naek Sinaga, the circulation of money during the Papua Coffee Festival reached more than IDR 627 million with 29,000 transactions.

Digital Transaction

Of this money turnover, as much as 10 percent use digital transactions with the QRIS application. This number increased rapidly from the previous coffee festival which was held in 2019.

In addition to Jayapura City, the exhibition was also held around the match venue. For example, around the main stadium of Lukas Enembe and GOR Papua Bankit in Sentani, Jayapura Regency.

Especially in that district, as stated by the Head of the Sub-Coordinator for Socio-Economic Division IV, Sub-PB PON, Jayapura Regency, Yos Levia Yoku, a number of MSME actors in the district were also included in a number of both exhibitions around sports venues. Before being involved in the exhibition, Yos said, they received guidance from the Jayapura Regency Government.

“Previously, they (MSME actors) received training first. In addition, they also received a business capital of Rp. 5 million per MSME,” he said Friday (10/8/2021).

The Merauke Regency Government did the same thing, which organized the MSME Exhibition. The MSME exhibition, which is dedicated to the success of the Merauke Cluster Papua PON, took place along the Merauke Regent’s Office road. There were 164 participants of MSMEs involved in the exhibition.

The result? As stated by the Regent of Merauke Romanus Mbaraka, the transaction is estimated to reach Rp. 1 billion. “Yes, we estimate that the transaction can reach Rp. 1 billion for 10 days,” he said.

As an illustration, the exhibition has been enthusiastically welcomed by the local community. By still adhering to health protocols, they came with joy. “It is estimated that the exhibition will be able to absorb 7,800 visitors and PON participants from outside the city of Merauke,” said Romanus.

Yos Levia Yoku added that the Jayapura Regency Government continues to encourage the Papuan MSME sector to rise and move up class. In that context, the Jayapura Regency Government also cooperates with the banking sector so that sector players gain access to financing in addition to being literate with digital payment systems.

Yos’s opinion was confirmed by Abraham Krey, Head of the UMK and Consumer Business Division of Bank Papua. Krey said that the bank actively supports financing to the MSME sector.

“We have a program called Papeda credit (Acceleration of Regional Family Access). The allocation of funds for the credit is Rp. 5 billion. Each MSME actor can get a credit without interest of Rp. 10 million. interest with a period of 1-2 years,” he said.

Author: Firman Hydranto
Editor: Ratna Nuraini/Elvira Inda Sari

Source: Indonesia.go.id