The Merah Putih Fund is not merely a new conglomerate in an old ecosystem, but this fund will be established in a wholly new ecosystem, with new foundationJakarta (ANTARA) - The Merah Putih Fund, as the new funding for Indonesia's start-up enterprises, will create a new start-up ecosystem with nationalist character, State-owned Enterprises Minister Erick Thohir stated.
"The Merah Putih Fund is not merely a new conglomerate in an old ecosystem, but this fund will be established in a wholly new ecosystem, with new foundation," Thohir stated at an online press conference here on Wednesday.
Merah Putih Fund, which was named after the colors of the national flag, will mainly facilitate "soonicorn" start-up companies -- enterprises with valuation below US$200 million -- to reach US$1-billion valuation -- the unicorn level, the minister stated.
"The 20 prototype start-up enterprises that Mrs Najwa Shihab earlier spoke about already have their own investors. Their next challenge would be to achieve unicorn status because start-up enterprises often approached foreign investors to access greater funding for their company," he stated.
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Thohir cautioned that Indonesians' lack of commitment to assisting national enterprises was causal to the rampant foreign funding and control of Indonesian start-up companies.
"Through the Merah Putih Fund, we strive to consolidate our commitment and encourage national private sectors and entrepreneurs to contribute to Indonesia's start-up ecosystem. We must prevent our market from being used as a market by foreign countries, and we must toil to grow our economy from the national market," the minister remarked.
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State-owned enterprises must also be committed to assisting national start-up enterprises, particularly those in the digital system, and prevent the enterprises from leaving for Singapore and accessing funding from foreign companies, Thohir emphasized.
The minister remarked that state-owned telecommunication companies --Telkom Indonesia and Telkomsel -- had expressed their commitment to supporting local start-up enterprises under the Merah Putih Fund scheme.
President Joko Widodo had also endorsed the ministry's efforts to prevent foreign countries from exploiting opportunities provided by the national market, he added.
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Translator: Aji Cakti, Nabil Ihsan
Editor: Fardah Assegaf
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