BNI functions as a lender which offers low and competitive interest rates
Jakarta (ANTARA) - State-owned lender Bank Negara Indonesia (BNI) and oil and gas giant Pertamina are seeking partnerships with micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) from GP Ansor, the youth wing of Indonesia's largest Muslim organization Nadhlatul Ulama for operating Pertashop gas stations.

According to a press statement that ANTARA received here on Saturday, GP Ansor MSMEs joining the partnership program will not only help expand Pertamina's fuel sales points for gasoline and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) in different parts of the country, but also serve as BNI agents.

Through Pertashop, both BNI and Pertamina are striving to empower MSMEs and the rural economy and to help people get gasoline without having to go to Pertamina public fuel filling stations (SPBU), it added.

"BNI functions as a lender which offers low and competitive interest rates," BNI president director Rokye Tumilaar said in the press statement.

GP Ansor MSMEs will become BNI agents through the acquisition of Pertashop outlets, he said, adding that the bank will offer them easy, quick, and affordable loans to help Pertamina achieve its target.

The state-owned oil and gas company is aiming to create "one village one Pertashop outlet" in 83 thousand villages across Indonesia, Tumilaar informed.

According to Pertamina's president director Nicke Widyawati, just 43 percent of all sub-districts in Indonesia have SPBUs, while the remaining 57 percent are yet to get filling stations.

As a state-owned enterprises, Pertamina is responsible for meeting the nation's demand for energy, he remarked.

In this regard, the availability, accessibility, and affordability of such energy as gasoline, LPG, and gas at affordable and similar prices across Indonesia is a must, Widyawati said.

In May this year, the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry had pushed Pertamina to build 10 thousand Pertashop units in different parts of Indonesia to strengthen people's accessibility to one-price fuel.

As per the ministry's records, 1,283 Pertashops were operating in the country as of May 16, 2021 to help the government meet its obligation to provide gasoline based on the one-price fuel policy.

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Translator: Kuntum KR, Rahmad Nasution
Editor: Sri Haryati
Copyright © ANTARA 2021