"At present, a lot of MSMEs actors only join the bandwagon to start a business trending at the time, while neglecting and not focusing to their principal business," Uno stated in a dialogue with MSMEs actors in Ternate, North Maluku, according to the Ministry of Tourism.and Creative Industry's statement on Sunday.
The minister said that entrepreneurs must have a focused business to ensure its sustainability. If entrepreneurs abruptly quit their principal business to shift to another business, they will lose customers, he explained.
During the dialogue, Uno spent time to converse with an entrepreneur named Ibrahim whose main business is selling batagor (fried meatball and tofu with peanut sauce).
Ibrahim said he took the opportunity from the 2022 World Cup to shift his business and began selling flags of World Cup nations on November 1.
Responding to Ibrahim's statement, Uno, well known as a businessman and investor, said Ibrahim must ensure the two businesses will continue.
"You can join the trend, but we need to ensure that your batagor and flag-selling businesses will continue. Hence, after the World Cup ends, Mr Ibrahim's main business still thrives, you will not lose customers, and you can develop the business further," the minister said to Ibrahim.
Meanwhile, Uno said that his ministry would continue developing MSMEs by providing digitalisation training, assistance on capacity building, and guidance to MSMEs in the culinary, fashion, and crafts sectors.
"We believe that collaboration with the North Maluku authority will create 1.1 million new jobs this year and 4.4 million jobs by 2024. I will fight for this goal because I was myself a businessman who developed my business network from three employees to 30 thousand employees," he remarked.
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Translator: M Baqir Idrus A, Nabil Ihsan
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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