Prudential Indonesia And Prudential Syariah Hold NextGen Fest To Encourage The Growth Of Indonesia's Young Entrepreneurs

Photo: Doc. Prudential Sharia

JAKARTA - Coinciding with the Month of Financial Inclusion and Youth Pledge Day, PT Prudential Life Assurance (Prudential Indonesia) and PT Prudential Sharia Life Assurance (Prudential Syariah) held the NextGen Fest at Senayan City Hall, Jakarta last Wednesday, October 30, 2024.

This event aims to inspire and raise the spirit of entrepreneurship/entrepreneurship of young Indonesians as a Generation of Change, as well as increase financial literacy, so that they are increasingly confident and financially empowered as well as support the government's efforts in realizing Indonesia Gold 2045, by having a demographic of a people who are empowered, financial intelligent and resilient.

More than 2,000 young people enthusiastically attended NextGen Fest. This activity is filled by inspiring speakers from various backgrounds, such as entrepreneurs, financial practitioners, to mental health practitioners, who share stories and experiences as well as practical tips that are relevant and close to the daily lives of young people, especially for those who want to become young entrepreneurs. Furthermore, this event is also an opportunity to build networks so that it can open up various other opportunities in the future.

"Indonesia's youth are the Generation of Change which has great potential and a very important role to advance the nation's economy. We see a lot of young people who are hungry to learn, work, and are empowered. As trusted partners and protectors for the community as well as companies close to young people, we present NextGen Fest as a forum to empower young people and create young Indonesian entrepreneur candidates who are financially and mentally resilient," said Rusli Chan, Chief Agency Officer, Prudential Indonesia, in his statement, Friday 1 November.

In line with Rusli, Mayang Ekaputri, Chief Strategy Officer, Prudential Syariah, is very happy to see the enthusiasm of Gen Z and Millennials who attended the NextGen Fest event, including those who want to be entrepreneurs with Islamic principles.

"Through this activity, it is hoped that more young people will learn the importance of financial literacy and the spirit of entrepreneurship, so that they can be more daring to get out of their comfort zone, optimize their potential, as well as live a more blessed life," said Mayang.

Entrepreneurs have a very important role to play in boosting the national economy. Data from the Central Statistics Agency in mid-2023 stated that the number of entrepreneurs in Indonesia reached more than 56 million.

Unfortunately, the comparison of the number of entrepreneurs compared to the total population of Indonesia has only reached 3.47 percent, still below neighboring countries namely Singapore (8.76 percent) and Malaysia (4.7 percent). Of the total entrepreneurs, the number of young entrepreneurs aged 20-29 years in Indonesia is still quite small, namely 6.1 million (or 11 percent of the total number of entrepreneurs in Indonesia). This figure is far below the number of entrepreneurs aged 50 years and over by 23.9 million people (42 percent of the total entrepreneurs in Indonesia).

On the other hand, Indonesia currently has a very large number of young people. When combined, the number of Generation Z and Millennials in Indonesia exceeds half of Indonesia's population, with Generation Z reaching 74.93 million people and the Millennial Generation reaching 69.38 million people.

This large number of productive ages needs to be exploited and equipped with various knowledge and skills, one of which is entrepreneurship, to create an economically competitive and advanced Indonesia.

At NextGen Fest, Prudential Indonesia and Prudential Syariah also introduced a youth entrepreneur community Prudential named GenPRU. In this community, Prudential prepared the participants to become young entrepreneurs, one example such as being a quality Prudential Agency Business Partner through various trainings in financial management, business, and international standard leadership.

It is hoped that they can become professional Prudential Business Partners so that they can realize their dreams and improve their quality of life and finances. In addition, the GenPRU community also has the opportunity to network with other community members of fellow young entrepreneurs so that they can further improve their knowledge and expertise.