"We need to create more technology-and innovation-based entrepreneurs to achieve the target of MP3EI," Coordinating Minister for the Economy Hatta Rajasa said here on Monday.
The development of human resources will support the third pillar of MP3EI which underscores the importance of human capital capable of turning natural resources into high value added products, he said.
"We need to rekindle the spirit of entrepreneurship among the younger generations to make progress so we will become a self-reliant nation. No nation has evolved into a developed country without the presence and contribution of its entrepreneurs," he said.
He said that individuals who have the spirit of entrepreneurship are those who have self-confidence and great motivation. That is what Indonesia must develop, the more so because the country has comparative advantage in the form of natural resources and productive young labor force.
"Entrepreneurs must try and have the ability to develop their potentials as maximally as possible and optimize all the expanded networks," he said.
The rise of technology-and innovation-based entrepreneurs is the trend of global competitiveness, the one that takes into account environmentally friendly technology, uses energy as efficiently as possible and avoids dependence on imports, he said.
"The spirit of entrepreneurship does not means doing business in narrow terms but it must also be reflected by the way to think and behave everyday," he said.
The ideal number of entrepreneurs in developed countries should reach at least two percent of the total population, but today the number of entrepreneurs in Indonesia is only 700,000. Ideally, Indonesia, with a population of more than 230 million, should have four million entrepreneurs, he said.
"As comparison, the number of US entrepreneurs accounts for 11 percent of its total population, Singapore 7 percent and Malaysia 5 percent," he said. (S038/S012)
Editor: Kunto Wibisono
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