East Java Governor Khofifah Wants Villages To Be More Prosperous

Governor of East Java Khofifah Indar Parawansa

EAST JAVA - East Java Governor Khofifah Indra Parawansa encouraged each village to implement the One Village One CEO format, aka the one village one manager program to build a prosperous village.

This is done by increasing managerial skills, to build villages that have developed to become advanced, while those that have developed become independent villages.

"Alhamdulillah, in mid-2021, East Java will be free from underdeveloped villages, which are now developing villages. How is the village progressing, so that it can be upgraded to become an independent village. From the index of developing villages issued by the Ministry of Villages Mandiri, East Java is the highest among all provinces in Indonesia," said Khofifah in an official statement, Wednesday, March 16.

According to him, this is the performance of village heads in East Java. "If you look at the highest achievements of independent villages in Indonesia, it means that they are already very good, but we still have challenges today, and the ones that will come will also be more varied and more complex," he said.

Therefore, he said, the existing one village one CEO format could be run well, so the commander (kades) from each village must have an entrepreneurial spirit in addition to a leadership spirit.

Moreover, the village is the foundation for the progress of the nation, as the message conveyed by President Joko Widodo. "Development in the village is the basic foundation for the progress of the nation," said Khofifah.

Supporting this, PT. Astra International Tbk together with the East Java Provincial Government are pushing for village revival through the Astra Prosperous Village (DSA) program. There are already 152 DSA spread across 15 regencies in East Java. Both in terms of tourism and village products.

This was conveyed by the Head of Social Engagement of PT Astra International, Triyanto. So far, he said, there are also two villages classified as super priority tourist villages. Among them are the Ketapanrame DSA, Mojokerto Regency and the Sumberwringin DSA, Bondowoso Regency.

Astra has also developed nine Islamic Boarding Schools in East Java, to foster more than 50 DSAs who also develop village superior products. This includes developing MSMEs through two Business Development Institutions (LPB) in East Java, namely LPB Waru Sidoarjo & Banyuwangi.

"To date, 180 MSMEs have been fostered with several focuses, namely fostering two-wheeled and four-wheeled workshops, handicrafts, culinary, manufacturing, and fisheries agriculture. Astra is also grateful that the efforts and synergy of all parties are starting to produce sweet results," said Triyanto.

Village Product Export Success

The success of DSA in East Java has also been fruitful with various achievements. Among them, coffee products from DSA in East Java have received a free certification test and participated in Indonesia Coffee Cupping in The Hague.

Then DSA Banyuwangi dragon fruit products participated in the Italian Macfruit Expo. The initiation of the export of chicken meat from DSA Pesantren East Java has also been carried out and lamb exports from DSA Malang in collaboration with PT Darbe.

At the end of March, Astra through DSA will also export three superior village products. Namely, coffee, dragon fruit and spices to various countries.

"The activities that have been carried out certainly cannot be separated from the support of the East Java provincial government which continues to open up opportunities for synergy with Astra," said Triyanto.

In line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), namely to increase sustainable economic growth and reduce poverty in Indonesia, Astra initiated sustainable social contribution programs, one of which was through the flagship program Desa Sejahtera Astra (DSA).

To date, there are 930 villages in 142 regencies and 34 provinces in Indonesia. The DSA program has involved many parties, including expertise, academics, start-ups, the community, and of course support from the government.

DSA Product Development Activities Astra continues to develop superior DSA products that are ready for export through several clusters, namely Coffee, Agriculture and Processed, Marine and Fisheries to Craft and Cultural Tourism.

From 2019 to January 2022, through synergies and collaborations with various parties, Astra has supported the export of 86 types of superior products from 207 DSA with a total transaction value of IDR 8.17 billion.