Closes Country's Best Thought Program, Erick Thohir: Total Recipients Reach 28,268 People

SOE Minister Erick Thohir. (Photo: Mery Handayani/VOI)

JAKARTA - Minister of State-Owned Enterprises (BUMN) Erick Thohir officially closed the State's Best Thoughts program initiated by the BUMN Foundation. The closing of the program was held today through the implementation of the final showcase.

The final showcase is the final stage of the Country's Best Thoughts Program which next, the BUMN Foundation will issue an Impact Report to show the real impact of the program implementation of each social entrepreneur.

Erick also hopes that the impact of 20 of the State's Best Social Thought Entrepreneurs can continue to innovate in providing sustainable solutions in the health and environmental sectors as well as being an inspiration to build a better future for Indonesia.

Furthermore, Erick said the Country's Best Thoughts are proof that cross-sectoral collaboration is able to produce real solutions to the nation's challenges.

"With the spirit of innovation and sustainability, we together build a more inclusive and competitive future for Indonesia," said Erick during a speech at the State's Best Thoughts event, in Jakarta, Wednesday, December 11.

Erick said several sectors that received the benefits of the program included the agricultural sector and mental health. Meanwhile, the number of beneficiaries from the program reached 28,268 people from various community groups.

The groups in question start from farmers, teachers, children, fishermen, housewives, students, garbage collectors, health workers, and factory workers.

"After yesterday we tried to work with many young Indonesians, such as, what if there were grants, there was an impact that was conveyed by 28,000 (program recipients)," he said.

According to Erick, Erick also assessed that the period data of the program reflects the success of reaching and making positive contributions to various levels of society.

Furthermore, Erick said this program would not be successful without the assistance of the Inclusion Foundation, which has supported SOEs since the launch.

"That's why we also collaborated with the Temasek Foundation, which from the start we tried to benchmark what methods we could run easily, not complicated, but really genuine. This means that it is real and we hope that many private companies will also join," he said.

Meanwhile, the Chairman of the Syafuan BUMN Foundation conveyed that the results of research conducted by the participants could later be accessed in general. The goal is to provide information about social and environmental impacts for the community.

"Later after this, we will make the impact report downloadable because it's open for public," he said.

Syafuan also said that the Country's Best Thoughts progrants have proven that big ideas can be turned into real action that has an impact.

"This is not the end, but the beginning of a long journey to a better future for Indonesia," he said.

In the event, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was also signed between PT Perkebunan Nusantara (PTPN) and three of the State's Best Social Thought entrepreneurs, namely PTPN I with Kulaku, PT RPN with Bell Living Lab, and PTPN IV with Arconesia.

This MoU includes cooperation to develop sustainable business models in the food and agricultural sectors.