Social Entrepreneurship as a Solution for Micro Businesses

Beside Minister of Social Affairs, the webinar also invited the Minister of Cooperatives and SMEs to become speakers. One of the discussions was about how to maintain small businesses to survive in this pandemic.

The Minister of Social Affairs said that besides regular social assistance program, there are also programs for small businesses, especially for graduated beneficiaries of PKH. The program launched by the Ministry of Social Affairs responded it through a social entrepreneurship program. This was intended as a business stimulant to survive in the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Minister of Cooperatives and SMEs Teten Masduki also stated that MSMEs must now have product innovation, business innovation, and digitalization to dominate the domestic market.

In the discussion session, Director General of Social Empowerment said that small-scale business actors should be able to keep their businesses alive. Considering that the impact of COVID-19 is so wide in various sectors and fields of life, including families who have just started their business after graduation from PKH program, Ministry of Social Affairs needs to provide stimulant assistance in the form of social entrepreneurship assistance. So that graduated beneficiaries can strengthen their business and be able to survive in the difficult situation of the COVID-19 pandemic. It is expected that there will be a collaboration between Ministry of Cooperatives and SMEs and Ministry of Social Affairs related to 1.144 graduated beneficiaries of PKH that will be a prospective recipients of social entrepreneurship funds.

The webinar was also present as a speaker, the chairman of HIPMI Mardani H.Maming conveyed the challenges and obstacles faced by MSMEs during the COVID-19 period. The Rector of Padjajaran University, Rina Indiastuti, said that MSMEs have to take lessons quickly in crisis time. As a moderator of this event, Director of Industry and Corporation of Padjadjaran University Diana Sari.