Government Will Launch The Merah Putih Fund, These Are The Requirements For Startups To Be Funded

Illustration. (Photo: Unsplash)

JAKARTA - Minister of State-Owned Enterprises (BUMN) Erick Thohir revealed several requirements for startups to receive funding through the Merah Putih Fund. As is known, the government will launch funding for Indonesian startups in mid-December through the Merah Putih Fund.

For your information, the Merah Putih Fund program aims to fund, assist and take over soonicorns and unicorns in Indonesia.

So what are the requirements?

First, said Erick, the startup founder must be an Indonesian citizen (WNI). Then, the company's operations must also be in Indonesia. Therefore, Erick asked not to lie about the terms.

"But don't be fooled. The founder must be Indonesian, the company's operations are in Indonesia, and must go public in Indonesia. After that, it's okay to go public abroad. But go public in Indonesia first," he said during the Post-pandemic BUMN Strategy Scientific Oration, quoted as saying Monday, November 29.

The reason for the funding, said Erick, is because many startups in Indonesia have changed hands to other countries, such as Singapore. Therefore, according to Erick, SOEs must intervene to maintain it.

Furthermore, Erick admitted that he was not wrong if there were startups that received funding from abroad. However, he only wants Indonesian businessmen to love their country more.

"That's where we intervene as SOEs, in order to leave Indonesia's future creators, Indonesian future businessmen to be more nationalistic. Because we are big because our market is not just money. We will intervene in digitalization," he said.

On that occasion, Erick also admitted that he wanted the younger generation not to be consumptive towards products from other countries, but also to be productive. Moreover, the opportunity for Indonesia to become a pop culture country is very large.

"The younger generation in the future will have more population, I emphasize that the younger generation is not only consumptive but also productive. And this is our opportunity to become a pop culture country. But pop culture country can live if the young generation is committed to buying their products, there must be partiality," he said.