"Based on the Entrepreneurship Global Index 2018, the number of entrepreneurs in Indonesia is still very low if we compare it to neighboring countries, such as six percent in Malaysia, five percent in Thailand, and seven percent in Singapore," Vice President Amin remarked while opening the virtual Cross Sector Strategic Coordination Meeting for Youth Service Delivery from Jakarta on Tuesday.
The number can serve as a reference to draw attention to the fact that economic progress in Indonesia still lags behind that of other Southeast Asian countries. The VP also noted that the ratio of the number of entrepreneurs proffers a lucid depiction of the country's economic progress.
"Although entrepreneurship is one of the keys in determining the success of economic development, it has become a rule of thumb that the ratio of the number of entrepreneurs in a country reflects the economic progress," the VP explained.
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Amin expounded that entrepreneurship is a business activity conducted independently by business actors, who the vice president believes, determine the type of product, method of production, marketing, capital, and business risks involved in their endeavor.
To this end, the vice president has pushed for gaining broader awareness and knowledge on entrepreneurship that should be imbibed from an early age, so that increasingly more number of young entrepreneurs can drive economic growth in Indonesia.
"I strongly agree that we need to cultivate an entrepreneurial spirit since a young age. A higher entrepreneurial spirit is expected to drive more and more new entrepreneurs to open up novel jobs," he affirmed.
Vice President Amin is optimistic that the coordination meeting, held by the Ministry of Youth and Sports, would lead to concrete efforts to create young entrepreneurs in Indonesia.
"One of the things to remember is that being an entrepreneur means starting from something small. Entrepreneurs will not think that their business will become big in an instant. This is the art of entrepreneurship. You must be brave to start from a small business and even a micro business," he reiterated.
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Translator: Fransiska Ninditya/Aria Cindya
Editor: Yuni Arisandy Sinaga
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