Padang (ANTARA) - The Finance Ministry is urging village-owned enterprises (BUMDes) to be able to scout and optimize various potentials in villages to contribute to the efforts to stimulate national economic growth. "The duty of BUMDes is to tap into and optimize village potentials," Adriyanto, Director of the General Transfer Fund of the Directorate General of Financial Balances at the Finance Ministry, stated.

The statement was made during a workshop on empowerment of villages and BUMDes organized by Andalas University in Padang City, West Sumatra, on Monday.

Adriyanto acknowledged that the administrators of BUMDes had a decisive task, as they should be capable of scouting potentials of villages that can be developed to become the engine of the society's economy.

He emphasized the need for all BUMDes administrators to optimize the development of potentials of villages having abundant natural resources or promising tourist destinations.

However, he said, in villages that do not have such potentials, the BUMDes administrators should act creatively to create new business opportunities by utilizing the budget prepared by the central government.

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Adriyanto noted that in West Sumatra, this year, the government has allocated a Village Fund, with the value totaling around Rp950 billion (US$63 million). From that figure, each village in the province can receive around Rp1 billion (US$66.5 thousand).

With the high amount of funds, the ministry continues to push village heads to maintain their synergy with BUMDes administrators in the hopes of creating new job vacancies that will, in turn, stimulate the economy.

"The government has arranged the Village Fund, so it can be used as an addition to the capital of BUMDes," he noted.

During the workshop, he also underscored the importance of separating the role and task of village heads from those of BUMDes administrators. He appealed to village heads to focus on managing the quality of public services.

Meanwhile, Adriyanto called on BUMDes administrators to dedicate their time and energy to drive economic growth in villages while adding that the efforts to do so cannot be made by village heads alone.

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Translator: Muhammad Zulfikar, Tegar Nurfitra
Editor: Yuni Arisandy Sinaga
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