Jakarta (ANTARA) - The government will continue to encourage university students, and youngsters in general, to take up entrepreneurship so that the number of entrepreneurs in the country rises, Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs, Airlangga Hartarto, has affirmed.

In an official statement released on Friday, he said he expects that intellectuals and university students can combine knowledge and skills to exploit business opportunities so that the number of entrepreneurs from universities can increase.

"For university students who wish to become entrepreneurs, the government has prepared various integrated financing schemes," he informed.

"For beginner businessmen who have just founded a micro and small business, there are several other programs such as Super Micro KUR (People's Business Credit), Regular KUR, and financing with commercial credit," he added.

Moreover, collaboration between universities and the government should also be carried out in supporting the financial inclusion program, Hartarto said.

"I expect that universities can also bolster their role to not just become a place for learning, but also to encourage financial literacy among students, which certainly will become knowledge for entrepreneurship," he remarked.

Related news: Investment Ministry helping students start enterprises: official

In addition, the minister also noted that the government is committed to supporting youngsters through various skill-building programs.

"The government's support for digital skills development exists from the basic to advanced level," he informed.

"These program supports include Pre-Employment Card, Digital Literacy National Movement, Digital Talent Scholarship, Digital Leadership Academy, and Sea Labs Academy," he added.

This is being done to support the productive age population, which has reached more than 191 million and the majority of which belongs to Generation Z and millennial demographics.

It is also expected to optimize digitalization opportunities in various sectors.

Digital skill development is estimated to contribute Rp4,434 trillion to the GDP in 2030.

This will be a major opportunity for Indonesia's economy and must be utilized as best as possible, Hartarto said.

Digital talents are also required to boost the number of entrepreneurs in Indonesia, he added.

Related news: santris encouraged to become entrepreneurs
Related news: Govt aims to add one million new SMEs

Translator: Sanya Dinda S, Fadhli Ruhman
Editor: Suharto
Copyright © ANTARA 2022