In Front Of UIN Sunan Kalijaga Yogyakarta Students, The SHW Center Affirms Its Depoksi To Provide Assistance To MSMEs

Founder of the SHW Center Foundation, Shri Hardjuno Wiwoho. (Photo: Special)

JAKARTA - The Merdeka Learning Campus Merdeka (MBKM) Study Master of Islamic Community Development (PMI) Faculty of Da'wah and Communication UIN Sunan Kalijaga Yogyakarta visited the Sharia Hardjuno Wiwoho Foundation (SHW) Center on Jl. HOS. Cokroaminoto No.55 Gondangdia, Menteng, Central Jakarta, Wednesday 20 December.

There were four students who attended this visit, namely MUSTonnif, Amirul Wahid Ridlo Wicaksono Zain, Elfira Zidna Almaghfiro, and Vina Fellinda Alfiatun Maghfiroh. This visit was led directly by the Head of the S2 PMI Faculty of Da'wah and Communication UIN Sunan Kalijaga Yogyakarta, Dr. Moh Nur Ichwan, MA and was accompanied by Ahmad Izudin, M.Si. as the Secretary of the Study Program.

The visit was part of the Orientation of the Institutional Program initiated by UIN Sunan Kalijaga Yogyakarta. They were received directly by the Founder of the SHW Center Foundation, Shri Hardjuno Wiwoho, SH, MM, MIKom.

Also present were a number of top administrators of the SHW Center Foundation. In front of participants of this orientation program, Hardjuno explained that the SHW Center is an independent, voluntary and philanthropic non-governmental foundation.

One of the main tasks (Tupoksi) of SHW Center is to provide assistance to small business activities at the MSME level. And currently, SHW Center has three business units, namely, mineral water, chicken farming and car showrooms.

"We are preparing various infrastructures and supporting access to help MSMEs, especially in terms of empowerment, so that in the future it will become an advanced MSME class," said Hardjuno.

Hardjuno emphasized that the people's efforts must be assisted because there are many obstacles they face in running their business wheels. For example, it is difficult for the MSME sector to get People's Business Credit (KUR) because it is considered infeasible and not bankable (not eligible for banking to get a loan).

In fact, said Hardjuno, this MSME actor is the backbone of the economy in Indonesia.

"The SHW Center is here to help these small business actors in all sectors. This is a form of SHW Center's contribution to national economic development," he explained.

The participants were very enthusiastic about listening to the explanation of the Founder of the SHW Center Foundation. During approximately 3 hours of interactive discussion.

Amirul Wahid Ridlo Wicaksono Zain as a participant in the visit said he was very grateful to be accepted at the Foundation which was very much in line with his team's expectations.

"We learned a lot from SHW Center, how a community development can be applied to the community, especially MSMEs with principles on religious and spiritual values," he said.

"The SHW Center brings a balance-based concept of justice where this needs to be followed up together as a synergy to create people who are independent of MSMEs," added Elfira Zidna Almaghfiro.

On that occasion, Hardjuno poked at the Ministry of Cooperatives and MSMEs (KemenkopUKM) and the Ministry of Trade (Kemendag) so as not to fail to anticipate the impact of global conditions on Indonesian MSMEs.

The reason is, the current global conditions are very unfavorable for this small business sector. For example, the world's geopolitical conditions, the Palestinian and Israeli conflicts, and simultaneous elections in 2024.

This condition has a negative impact on Indonesian MSMEs, especially MSMEs, which are mostly imported raw materials.

"The weakening of the rupiah exchange rate, the increase in the price of imported raw materials, and the increasing uncertainty in the market, can lead to increased production costs, decreased competitiveness, and increased risk of loss for MSMEs," he said.

To that end, Hardjuno asked the government to immediately take steps to anticipate the impact of this global condition on Indonesian MSMEs.

"Need cross-sectoral cooperation is needed to provide support to MSMEs, such as providing subsidies for imported raw materials, providing training to increase production efficiency, and providing support for the development of innovative products," he said.

Hardjuno asked MSMEs to do several things to reduce the impact of these global conditions, including using local raw materials, increasing production efficiency, and developing innovative products.

"MSMEs must be observant about the opportunities and challenges that exist, and must be ready to adapt," he explained.

Furthermore, Hardjuno explained that the activity at the SHW Center is in line with the Merdeka Learning Campus Merdeka (MBKM) program launched by the Minister of Education and Culture. One of the MBKM programs is Merdeka Entrepreneurs.

"This is one of the flagship programs in the framework of the MBKM policy which provides opportunities for students to obtain learning in the field of entrepreneurship for one semester at the elected executive college," he concluded.