Village-Owned Enterprises Urged to Spur New Businesses

Jakarta: Village-Owned Enterprises (BUMDes) must provide economic benefits to communities at the village level as the number of BUMDes has grown rapidly from 810 in 2014 to 57,200, Indonesian President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) has said.

"Do not just receive a legal entity certificate and install the nameplate of ‘Village-Owned Enterprises of Sukamakmur Village’ without any economic activities in it or with the quality of activities that is not clear. Instead, they should work hard to provide economic benefits to our people," the President said during the Launching of Legal Entity Certificates and the Opening Inauguration of National Coordination Meeting for Village-Owned Enterprises (BUMDes), at the Birawa Ballroom, Bidakara Hotel, Jakarta, Monday, as quoted from the Cabinet Secretariat's website.

 

The President added that the existence of BUMDes and Joint BUMDes should drive the birth of new businesses needed by the communities instead of eliminating the existing people’s businesses.

The Head of State also urged BUMDes to strengthen their role in consolidating people’s businesses to facilitate more supplies, including in supporting the procurement of fertilizer supplies for farmers.

The President also encouraged those business entities to be involved in activities organized by state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and the private sector and ordered SOEs and the private sector in the fields of plantations, mining, and others to involve BUMDes in their activities at region and village levels.

President Jokowi also also ordered that the momentum of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic be used as economic transformation in villages and in BUMDes.


(WAH)