Jokowi Wants Private And INA To Enter The Red And White Fund

President of the Republic of Indonesia, Joko Widodo. (Photo: Doc. Setkab)

JAKARTA - President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) wants not only State-Owned Enterprises (BUMN), but also the private sector and the Indonesia Investment Authority (INA) to also be included in the Merah Putih Fund, in order to fund or assist in funding local startups.

Merah Putih Fund is a funding company that aims to develop the potential of startups in Indonesia. The Merah Putih Fund will be launched on December 17, 2021.

"This cannot be BUMN itself, the private sector must also join this Red and White Fund, then INA, the Indonesian investment authority also come here. So that a large fund will be prepared, which we want to use to speed up the processes previously I convey," he said at the Digital Generation Acceleration event, in Jakarta, Wednesday, December 15.

Jokowi also appreciated the steps taken by the Minister of SOEs, Erick Thohir, who had prepared the Red and White Fund to provide capital to Sunnycorn so that they could level up to Unicorn. Jokowi assessed that if all parties took part, the development of a digital ecosystem in Indonesia would be achieved.

Previously, the Minister of State-Owned Enterprises (BUMN) Erick Thohir built the Red and White Fund company. According to him, this company will focus on funding Sunnycorn or startup companies that will become Unicorn candidates.

"I see what our strengths are in SOEs, namely back in corporations. That's why we focus on funding, for funding we also focus on Sunnycorn, namely startups with a valuation of US$ 200 million and not yet a Unicorn," he said.

Furthermore, Erick said that Sunnycorn has a lot of potential. But if funding is not also assisted, this startup will no longer have potential. In fact, the Sunnycorn startup is an early stage towards Unicorn.

"We see that the number of national Unicorns is not yet maximized. There are still many who have potential if our prediction of 25 Unicorns still has the potential to be realized," he explained.

Meanwhile, for financing support to Unicorn, said Erick, his party also cooperated with the Indonesia Investment Authority (INA) to enter into it.

"We have also invited SWF INA to enter a bigger one for Unicorn to Decacorn," he said.