Hipmi: Amid The COVID-19 Pandemic, Young Entrepreneurs Must Be Creative!

Illustrated. (Irfan Meidianto / VOI)

JAKARTA - Young entrepreneurs must be able to adapt and have creativity in the COVID-19 pandemic situation to maintain their business, including seeing the potential in the business of personal protective equipment such as masks. This was stated by the Head of the Employment, Vocational and Health Division of the Indonesian Young Entrepreneurs Association (HIPMI) Sari W. Pramono.

"During the Covid-19 period, entrepreneurs have to be creative, because there are indeed a lot of businesses that may not yet be able to run, but there are also businesses that are stretching. This is the challenge for young entrepreneurs, we change, how these businesses adapt so that we can survive," said Sari. from Antara, Wednesday 19 August.

According to Sari, the potential for the mask business is quite large, with an increase of 77 percent of entrepreneurs trying to produce masks, mainly in the convection sector.

For this reason, he hopes that the government can support adaptation measures and the efforts that are mostly carried out by MSMEs to help move the wheels of the economy.

Sari also gave an example of how in the midst of the sluggish fashion industry, there are now many business actors making masks to adapt to the needs of society.

HIPMI member Saifudin HS, who is also a businessman, agrees with this. According to the Managing Director of Mitra Sarana Indo, adaptations have been carried out by companies that were never engaged in the medical equipment sector before.

However, the pandemic has prompted these companies to make masks in recent months, including Saifudin's company.

This step was taken because entrepreneurs saw the government reallocate spending and there was an increase in the budget for the purchase of personal protective equipment (PPE) such as masks.

The making of PPE, said Saifudin, was a form of business support for government efforts to tackle the spread of COVID-19 while reducing the impact on the economy. He also encourages more collaboration between government, private sector and academia in the current situation.

"You cannot be alone, here you have to collaborate with fellow entrepreneurs, with the government, with academics," said Saifudin.