Universitas Airlangga (UNAIR) exhibited several student entrepreneurial works from the Wirausaha Merdeka program. Directorate of Career Development, Entrepreneurship Incubation, and Alumni (DPKKA) UNAIR held an Expo of the Wirausaha Merdeka Program "Airlangga Collaborative Entrepreneur Camp" (ACEC), Saturday, December 2, 2023 at Atrium Royal Plaza G Floor, Surabaya. Wirausaha Merdeka is one of the Kampus Merdeka programs of the Ministry of Education and Culture Research and Technology (Kemendikbudristek). In addition to the exhibition, there was also a discussion about preparing the business ecosystem for Golden Indonesia (Indonesia Emas) 2045.

Directorate of Career Development, Entrepreneurship Incubation, and Alumni (DPKKA) is one of the institutions of Universitas Airlangga (UNAIR) that joined the Wirausaha Merdeka program organized by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology.

With that, the Independent Entrepreneur Program Expo activity "Airlangga Collaborative Entrepreneur Camp" (ACEC) is one of the programs successfully implemented by DPKKA, on Saturday (2/12/2023) at the Royal Plaza Atrium, G Floor, Surabaya.

There are various series of activities carried out, one of which is a talk show entitled "Building a Golden Indonesia through a Young Entrepreneurial Ecosystem" with expert speakers in their fields, namely; Wayan Supadno (CEO of PT Bina Jaya Abadi) and M. Awaludin Arief ST MMT (Office Secretary the Department of Cooperatives, Small and Medium Enterprises and Trade).

Four Key Components

The talk show was opened by Lastiko Endi Rahmantyo as the moderator who questioned how to build a golden Indonesia towards 2045 by having a productive age demographic bonus.

Wayan explained that the meaning of the 2045 golden ecosystem is not the advanced economy but the golden people. These golden humans will be productive at the age of 45 and become leaders.

There are four main components to building golden humans, namely the first is support from the government to the community or students who are entrepreneurs. For example, given the low price of basic materials to produce.

Second, the intention within oneself. Trying not to be shackled by circumstances that limit trying, such as not having a college degree, is not a problem for entrepreneurship.

Third, have a mentality that is willing to continue learning quickly because to become an entrepreneur, you must be willing to accept any knowledge gained from other people or personally and immediately put it into practice. Fourth, be good at placing yourself.

"Falling up and down when becoming an entrepreneur is something common, natural. What is not natural is that you succeed without falling, where do you get knowledge from if you just try to be straight. Being deceived by billions of money is natural and not a failure but the beginning of a struggle," he said.

Entrepreneurial Ecosystem

To create an entrepreneurial ecosystem, there must be a combination of stakeholders from the government, businesses themselves, the private sector, and the community.

"In 2045, we will experience a demographic bonus, where later in that era, the productive age will appear, which will be an opportunity for our nation. It depends on the mentality of our generation," Awal explained.

The mental readiness in question is a mentality that is ready to become an entrepreneur and create jobs for others. Not a mentality that continues to rely on looking for work.

With that, to achieve this period, in 2045 Indonesia must fulfill one of the conditions, namely the number of entrepreneurs must be more than 4 percent of the total population of Indonesia.

"Many universities and governments collaborate to create programs to foster young people for entrepreneurship. By providing access to capital, marketing, and so on," he added.

"Therefore, the program that is being run is one of the supporting programs for students to dare to become entrepreneurs to deliver the golden Indonesia of 2045."

Penulis: Nokya Suripto Putri 

Editor: Feri Fenoria