Wismilak Foundation Owned By Conglomerate, Oei Bian Hok, Facilitates Youth Businesses That Support National Food Security

Wismilak Building. (Photo: Doc. Wismilak Inti Makmur)

JAKARTA - The Wismilak Foundation expresses its full support for the productive activities of young people that are oriented towards strengthening national food security.

Through the Diplomat Success Challenge (DSC), this non-profit organization tries to attract entrepreneurs who are determined to make an economic contribution as well as to contribute to the government's strategic programs.

Edric Chandra from the Wismilak Foundation said that strong food security is important to be able to meet the increasing needs of the community. According to him, the agricultural, livestock, and fishery sectors are still not optimally utilized, especially in producing high economic value.

"For this reason, we see the need for collaborative steps from all parties so that we can synergize businesses from upstream to downstream", he said in a written statement as quoted on Thursday, September 30.

Edric added that the opportunity to bring the food sector to a certain economic level can be achieved through empowering young people with an entrepreneurial spirit. The reason is, this sector is considered still minimal from a touch of technology and innovation

So, continued Edric, young people are the right subjects to be able to make changes while supporting national food security.

"I challenge the younger generation to seize opportunities and make a breakthrough", he said

One of the DSC alumni is Utari Octavianty who has successfully developed a start-up business in the field of fisheries. Through the Aruna platform, he is revolutionizing the seafood trading ecosystem with technology.

The mechanism is quite simple, Aruna is included in the supply chain that connects fish purchase transactions directly between fishermen or fish cultivators and consumers, without going through middlemen.

"Fishermen get a decent selling price, consumers also get their fish needs at a reasonable price", he said.

Utari said that he and his team faced challenges in applying business schemes in the field. This is because most fishermen do not really understand technological developments in smart devices (smartphones).

"This is where the role of young entrepreneurs in contributing to educating most groups of fishermen in adapting to technological transformation", he said.

Similarly, Dalu Nyzlul Kirom who is the CEO of Ternakesia and also alumni of DSC, feels compelled to advance the livestock sector, which is less attractive to young entrepreneurs.

"We are trying to apply technology to the livestock business with a focus on helping Indonesian breeders who need assistance in the fields of capital, marketing, and management", he said.

Another motivation that moved Dalu was the condition of Indonesia, which still needed meat supplies from abroad. In fact, Indonesia is a country with the largest consumption level of halal products in the world.

Referring to the 2019 Islamic Economic Forum data, it is stated that Indonesia is the number 1 halal food consumer in the world with a turnover of US$ 273 billion per year.

"Unfortunately, we are not among the top 10 halal food supply countries in the world. This is an irony as well as a great opportunity for young entrepreneurs to meet the demand for livestock products with halal standardization, "explained Dalu.

To note, this year's DSC is the 12th event organized by the Wismilak Foundation. Meanwhile, DSC itself aims to ignite the hope of young entrepreneurs through the provision of several facilities, such as capital, assistance, to the opportunity to open a business network.