Campuspreneur Partners with IPB University, Trade Minister Invites Students to Become Export Entrepreneurs
Trade Minister Budi Santoso, known as Mendag Busan, has invited students and academics to become business actors and young exporters through the Campuspreneur Programme initiated by the Ministry of Trade. According to him, Indonesia’s export opportunities remain wide open amidst various global economic challenges, giving the younger generation a significant chance to develop export-oriented businesses.
The invitation was conveyed during the ‘Campuspreneur 2026: Development of Export-Oriented Young Entrepreneurs’ event held at IPB University in Bogor, West Java, on Friday, 12 June 2026. The event was also attended by IPB University Rector Alim Setiawan Slamet, Director General of National Export Development Fajarini Puntodewi, and Head of the Trade Human Resources Development Agency Djatmiko Bris Witjaksono.
Budi emphasised that the Campuspreneur Programme is designed to encourage students not only to become job seekers after graduation but also to create employment through entrepreneurship and exports. ‘We want students after graduation not only to be job seekers, but to become entrepreneurs and exporters. The Campuspreneur Programme synergises with universities to provide training, mentoring, and business matching so that potential products from campuses can fill the domestic market and penetrate export markets,’ said Budi.
As part of the programme, selected participants will have the opportunity to join Trade Expo Indonesia (TEI) 2026, which will take place on 14–18 October 2026 at the Indonesia Convention Exhibition (ICE) BSD City, Tangerang. The Ministry of Trade has also prepared a special promotional space and facilitated pitching and business matching so that innovative student products can meet directly with thousands of prospective buyers from various countries.
On the occasion, Budi also presented the achievements of the export facilitation programmes run by the Ministry of Trade. Throughout 2025, the UMKM Berani Inovasi, Siap Adaptasi Ekspor (UMKM BISA Ekspor) programme recorded export transactions worth USD 134.87 million, or more than Rp2 trillion. Meanwhile, in the January–May 2026 period, the transaction value reached USD 193.88 million. According to him, this success shows that novice business actors, including students and campus startups, have a great opportunity to penetrate international markets if they receive proper mentoring.
In addition to providing various export development programmes, the Ministry of Trade also opens market access through 46 Indonesian trade representatives in 33 countries. The government is also accelerating the completion of various trade agreements to expand access for Indonesian products to the global market. Domestically, the Ministry of Trade collaborates with various strategic partners such as PT Kereta Api Indonesia (KAI), HIPPINDO, APRINDO, and the digital platform Shopee to expand the marketing of MSME products.
Meanwhile, IPB University Rector Alim Setiawan Slamet welcomed the implementation of the Campuspreneur Programme. According to him, the programme aligns with IPB’s vision as a Technosocial Entrepreneur University focused on producing graduates with an entrepreneurial spirit. ‘We want to produce superior human resources oriented towards entrepreneurship. The Campuspreneur Programme is very synergistic with that vision and we will integrate it with the curriculum to support the student learning process,’ he said.
Enthusiasm for the programme also came from students. Febridha Putri Jusson, a student at the IPB University Business School, considered Campuspreneur an important first step to understanding the business world and exports. ‘I hope this programme continues because it can be a means for students to learn more about the business world, including the procedures for becoming an exporter,’ she said.
The Campuspreneur Programme itself was launched simultaneously on 2 April 2026 and is being followed by 19 universities in Indonesia. The programme connects students with various export development facilities, ranging from training, product curation, and business matching to participation in international exhibitions.
In the series of activities, Trade Minister Budi Santoso also released the export of betel nut products belonging to PT Export Tani Nusantara to Bangladesh and the Maldives, with a value reaching Rp2.2 billion. The company is managed by IPB University students who successfully developed an agricultural commodity-based business to penetrate the international market. He explained that the export success was inseparable from the trade promotion and business matching facilitation carried out by the Ministry of Trade since last year. Besides Bangladesh and the Maldives, the company also obtained new transaction opportunities when participating in a trade exhibition in China.
‘We hope that more and more students will follow in the footsteps of PT Export Tani Nusantara in developing businesses to penetrate the export market,’ said Budi. CEO of PT Export Tani Nusantara, Al Fiqie, revealed that support from the Ministry of Trade and IPB University played a major role in developing his business. One such support was facilitation to participate in a trade exhibition in Shanghai, China, which resulted in a number of potential buyers. Through the exhibition, the company managed to sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with a transaction value reaching Rp33 billion for various superior commodities such as Arabica coffee, vanilla, cocoa, and betel nuts. ‘I express my gratitude to the Ministry of Trade and IPB who always support through training, mentoring, and market access via business matching,’ said Fiqie. The success of PT Export Tani Nusantara serves as a concrete example of how collaboration between the government, universities, and young business actors can produce new globally competitive exporters and strengthen the position of Indonesian products abroad.