Sandiaga Asks Students In Jepara To Become Successful Entrepreneurs

Sandiaga Uno (Photo via Twitter)

JAKARTA - Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy Sandiaga Uno spoke at length about the tourism potential of Jepara. This area has many advantages.

This was said by Sandiaga when speaking at the "General Lecture and Sharing Session: Enhancing Student Entrepreneurial Capability in the Creative Economy Sector", at Roudlatul Mubtadiin Islamic Boarding School, Balekambang, Jepara, Central Java.

Sandiaga said, Jepara has natural attractions such as Bandengan Beach, historical tourism, there is a Portuguese fort, a creative economy in addition to very famous furniture, namely the craft of woven troso woven fabrics, and also the culinary of pindang serani fish.

"We can develop this potential together, because it will have a positive impact on the community so that after the pandemic they can be independent and prosperous," said the Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy in a written statement, Wednesday, July 27.

In the development of the tourism and creative economy sector in Jepara, one of the efforts that can be made by the students is to use accounts owned by social media to promote tourist destinations, then create content with positive narratives on social media.

Menparekraf Sandiaga said that according to data as of January 2022, there are 26,975 Islamic boarding schools throughout Indonesia, with the number of students reaching 5 million people. Central Java, especially Jepara, contributed 151 Islamic boarding schools.

"We have human resources in quantity, we just need to improve their quality. Because just imagine if one percent of the total five million students become successful entrepreneurs, become entrepreneurs and create jobs. There will be additional if one percent is 50 thousand MSMEs and hundreds of thousands of fields work for the industry created by the students," said Sandiaga.

The Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy is developing the Santri Digitalpreneur Indonesia program as a forum to help students face the challenges of the creative digital industry. For example, students can also make innovations in the form of 2D animation, 3D animation, and podcasts.

"We want students to be able to create their own content, don't let students end up watching podcast content that is not in accordance with our culture. Therefore, I also want to encourage this Digitalpreneur Santri to work together with the Balekambang Islamic boarding school. Because I believe the students and its alumni are able to be part of the economic revival of the people through innovation and creativity,” he said.

On that occasion, Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy Sandiaga appreciated the creations of the students, including satay wrapped around cassava and raw coconut as well as electric vehicles.

"Hopefully next year I can join Formula E," he said.

Menparekraf Sandiaga also initiated the provision of scholarships to students at Roudlatul Mubtadiin Islamic Boarding School, Balekambang to study at six Poltekpar under the auspices of the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy. He hopes that this scholarship can be used by the students to develop tourism insight and the country's creative economy.

Meanwhile, Pj. The Regent of Jepara, Edy Supriyanta, said that Jepara has a phenomenal tourist destination, whose name has been heard abroad, namely the Karimun Jawa tourist destination. However, connectivity to amenities in Karimun Jawa still needs to be improved to make it more attractive and attract tourist visits.

"Direct flights from Semarang to Karimun Jawa are currently stopped. So are the facilities and infrastructure. For that, we ask for support from the Menparekraf, including the development of tourist destinations in Balekambang, because Balekambang is very unique and has extraordinary tourism potential," he said.

In response to this, Menparekraf together with his staff immediately coordinated with the Ministry of Transportation so that the matter could be followed up.