PEBS FEB UI, BPDP Palm Oil and IAEI: Developing the Potential of Santripreneur Based on Palm Oil UKMK
Nino Eka Putra ~ PR of FEB UI
DEPOK – (1/10/2020) The Center for Economics and Business (PEBS) FEB UI in collaboration with the Oil Palm Plantation Fund Management Agency (BPDP KS), supported by the Association of Islamic Economic Experts (IAEI), held a program launch and webinar “Potential Development Santripreneur Based on Palm Oil UKMK, As a Regional Economic Empowerment Program “on Thursday (1/10/2020).
The inauguration of the Palm UKMK Based Santripreneur Program was attended by prof. Dr. KH. Ma’ruf Amin (Vice President of the Republic of Indonesia and Chairman of the MUI National Sharia Council), Sri Mulyani Indrawati (Minister of Finance of the Republic of Indonesia and General Chair of the IAEI DPP), Dr. H. Waryono (Director of Early Education and Islamic Boarding Schools, Directorate General of Islamic Education, Ministry of Religion of the Republic of Indonesia), Eddy Abdurrachman (Main Director of BPDP KS), Prof. Ari Kuncoro, Ph.D. (Rector of the University of Indonesia) as well as Syamsuar (Governor of Riau), Eddy Rachmayadi (Governor of North Sumatra), Herman Deru (Governor of South Sumatra) represented by Fakhrurrozi Rais (Head of the Plantation Service of South Sumatra Province).
The inauguration of the Palm UKMK-Based Santripreneur Program was opened with remarks from UI Rector Prof. Ari Kuncoro. In his remarks, Prof. Ari said that in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, economic activity in Islamic boarding schools were faced with obstacles, so there is indeed a need for assistance and business development to deal with this situation. In addition, Prof. Ari also expressed his appreciation for the initiative carried out by PEBS FEB UI and BPDP KS supported by IAEI, in organizing the Palm Oil UKMK-Based Santripreneur Program, because this program is designed to optimize the potential of Islamic boarding schools, especially in the largest palm oil producing areas in Indonesia, namely Riau, North Sumatra and South Sumatra.
The next remarks were delivered by Eddy Abdurrachman. In his remarks, he explained that the involvement of Islamic boarding schools in the program was because these pesantren have high social kinship and were a strategic institution to be able to move the economy. The pilot project in 3 provinces was implemented in 2020 and includes several interventions, namely related to product development, marketing, capital, technology and business management.
Waryono expressed his appreciation, especially to PEBS FEB UI, BPDP KS and IAEI that have involved the Ministry of Religion and Islamic boarding schools in this program. Given that the Ministry of Religion has limited funds to be able to provide empowerment programs to the pesantren, it is necessary to collaborate between related Ministries / Agencies, for example with the Ministry of Cooperatives to empower the pesantren business sector.
Sri Mulyani Indrawati delivered the Keynote Speech. On this occasion, Sri Mulyani said that palm oil is one of the largest foreign exchange earners and most of it is owned by independent farmers or the people. Therefore, BPDP KS is tasked with helping independent farmers by increasing their productivity, so that oil palm farmers can be more prosperous.
In addition, it is important to have collaboration between related parties in the success of this program, namely collaboration between BPDP KS, local governments, and the University of Indonesia to organize links and matches, and parties providing funding such as KUR and PIP as providers of ultra-micro financing. In closing, she congratulated the launch and webinars,with hopes that the benefits and effectiveness of developing santripreneurs can continue to be improved. She also gave her appreciation for all the dedication and collaboration of various parties, and hoped that the steps taken could provide good benefits for all and become a jihad to benefit all mankind.
In the inauguration of the Palm Oil SME-Based Santripreneur Program, the Vice President of the Republic of Indonesia Ma’ruf Amin said that Indonesia is one of the largest suppliers of palm oil and palm oil is also one of the mainstay commodities in non-oil and gas exports. Meanwhile, the Islamic boarding school with its independence and presence around palm oil plantations, places the pesantren in a strategic position, not only as an educational and preaching institution, but also to become a center for community empowerment.
In this case, the empowerment can include the Islamic financial sector, such as through micro waqf banks and BMT, financing through LPDB which can provide cooperative and BMT financing in Islamic boarding schools. Meanwhile, in the context of the real sector, empowerment can be carried out by providing assistance and business development in the agricultural, plantation and livestock sectors, so that they are able to distribute business results properly, utilize technology so as to improve the economy of the pesantren and the communities around the pesantren.
The success of this program requires collaboration between many parties, namely the central and regional governments, the business world, and Islamic boarding schools. The parties in the pesantren involved need to be equipped with upstream to downstream processes, knowledge and skills for business development, organization, and human resources, so as to improve entrepreneurial skills in the pesantren. In addition, there is also a need for ongoing assistance. After that, Ma’ruf Amin formally inaugurated the Palm Oil UKMK-Based Santripreneur Program.
The program inauguration program was continued with a webinar, which contained a description of the conditions of the pesantren and palm oil plantations in each of the program target areas, namely North Sumatra, Riau and South Sumatra by the respective Governors. The local government is very supportive of this program, because in addition to the large number of oil palm plantations in the three regions, each also agrees that the pesantren has good potential. The governors hope that this program can improve the entrepreneurial skills of the pesantren students in their respective regions.
Rahmatina Awaliah Kasri, Ph.D., as the Head of PEBS FEB UI, gave a detailed explanation of the Palm Oil UKMK-Based Santripreneur Program, which is a collaboration between PEBS FEB UI, BPDPKS and IAEI. Rahma conveyed the program background and the main principles of the program, namely sustainability, welfare and environmentally friendly. Furthermore, the program objectives are to foster an entrepreneurial culture, improve the economy of Islamic boarding schools, build an image of palm oil that is religiously oriented, improve the negative image of palm oil to become more environmentally friendly and have sustainable principles.
The pilot project areas for the implementation of the program, namely North Sumatra, Riau, and South Sumatra are also beneficiaries of the program. The program intervention that will be carried out includes product development and management, human resource coaching and development, marketing development, strengthening of capital, business management, and mastery of technology. In addition, details of the activities to be carried out, such as initial data collection, assessment, boot camp, assistance, monitoring and evaluation. (hjtp)
A full explanation of the Launch and Webinar of the PKS-Based Student Activity Development Program as a Regional Economic Empowerment Program can be viewed through the PEBS FEB UI Youtube Channel, at the link https://youtu.be/Ulf5IlNYlwk
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