Jokowi Even Admits It's Hard To Get SIUP, But That Was Before He Was President

JAKARTA - President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) recalled the difficulty of obtaining a business license when he started his furniture business in 1988, named CV Rakabu.

This story was conveyed by President Jokowi when distributing Business Identification Numbers (NIB) to Individual Micro and Small Enterprises (UMK) at the Nanggala Building, Cijantung Kopassus Complex, East Jakarta, Wednesday 13 July.

"In the beginning I was trying, the biggest difficulty I experienced was not having a business license. It was in '88 '89, I didn't have a business license, so I couldn't access banking," said President Jokowi, quoted from Antara.

President Jokowi said that he could not access capital through a bank because he did not have a business license which at that time was called a Trading Business License (SIUP). Even if he wanted to apply for a SIUP, at that time he had to pay a fee which was quite burdensome.

"If I want to apply for a permit, I have to pay. And the payment for me at that time was very heavy, so for years I did not have a SIUP at that time, which our micro and small entrepreneurs desperately needed," said President Jokowi.

The Head of State invites all UMK actors to be able to take care of NIB as the first step to develop business.

The event was also attended by the Minister of Investment/Head of BKPM Bahlil Lahadalia, Minister of Cooperatives and Small and Medium Enterprises (MenkopUKM) Teten Masduki and Minister of SOEs Erick Thohir.

The NIB number is a form of business legality, and can also be used to open up bigger business opportunities, such as access to financing and training.

Through the Indonesian OSS (Online Single Submission) application, individual MSEs can easily take care of their NIB anytime, anywhere, and free of charge.

Since last year the Ministry of Investment has collaborated with partners from BUMN and private companies, namely Bank Rakyat Indonesia (BRI), Sampoerna, Tokopedia, Gojek, and Grab to provide online guidance to individual MSEs in processing NIB.

The risk-based OSS system was inaugurated directly by President Jokowi in August 2021 as the implementation of Law Number 11 of 2020 concerning Job Creation.

Based on data from the Ministry of Investment/BKPM, as of July 12, 2022, 1,507,235 NIBs have been successfully issued through the OSS system. Of this figure, 98 percent are NIB for SMEs and 2 percent for medium and large businesses.