Creating Sharia Entrepreneurs, Muamalat Distributes Funding to Jakarta Schools

JAKARTA - PT Bank Muamalat Indonesia and the Muamalat Institute are said to be committed to encouraging the growth of entrepreneurial activities (MSMEs) at the young level as drivers of the economy.

SEVP Human Capital Bank Muamalat Riksa Prakoso said the effort was realized by holding a business incubator program at the high school level.

"Our presence is also proof of active participation in carrying out literacy and inclusion functions that provide benefits," he said in a written statement on Friday, July 28.

According to Riksa, this business incubator program is a form of responsibility to contribute to driving the economy in the midst of a global slowdown trend. Thus, the entrepreneurship program is expected to be able to produce tough young entrepreneurs, especially in the Sharia sector and the halal industry.

The program that we bring can provide general and special skills to be competitive. This is expected to produce graduates into young entrepreneurs to create jobs in the community," he said.

On the same occasion, the Executive Director of the Muamalat Institute, Anton Hendrianto, explained that his party is ready to build the quality of Indonesian human resources that excel through synergies with schools.

"Muamalat encourages the quality of graduates who are link-match. That is, the output that is really needed by the world of work is the demand side of the competent graduates," he said.

Anton said that currently, the challenge faced is the gap industry, namely the existence of a mismatch between graduates and industrial needs, especially in Islamic banking.

"Therefore, we are trying to present a labor market that has problems solving, decision-making, and critical thinking. This is also very important as a provision to become a strong entrepreneur," he stressed.

Similarly, the Head of the DKI Jakarta Provincial Vocational School Office stated that vocational schools must have general and special skills to be competitive. He wants the incubator program to produce graduates to become young entrepreneurs in order to create jobs in the community.

"Currently, graduates are required to focus not only on one skill but also on multiskills," he said.

Meanwhile, in this program, SMK Negeri 20 Jakarta is chosen as a role model which is expected to be a reference for the success of similar programs in other schools.

Muamalat itself encourages business innovation in the form of business competitions to produce startups that have a competitive entrepreneurial spirit through rolling fund financing schemes that students can use to create products from their business ideas.

It is hoped that the funding program provided by Muamalat will further foster young Indonesian entrepreneurial activities.