Coordinating Minister Praises PNM's Empowerment Programme in Gresik

Coordinating Minister for Community Empowerment (Menko PM) Muhaimin Iskandar has expressed appreciation for PT Permodalan Nasional Madani’s (PNM) empowerment programme targeting ultra-micro businesses in Watuagung Village, Bungah District, Gresik Regency, East Java. The appreciation was conveyed during Muhaimin’s visit to the village in the Mengare Island area, where he observed first-hand the business activities of residents utilising the potential of fisheries, ponds, and marine products, supported by PNM’s financing and mentoring. Watuagung Village has a population of approximately 3,000, of which 1,492 are women, according to 2025 data from the Central Statistics Agency (BPS). Around 60 per cent of the village’s women are registered as customers of PNM Mekaar. Muhaimin noted that access to financing must be accompanied by mentoring to ensure community businesses can grow and have a greater impact on the family economy. ‘It is very effective in helping the family economy, and I received encouraging news that the account officers here are also the backbone of their families and very active,’ he said. PNM uses financing as an entry point for empowerment. Customers not only receive business capital but also mentoring to improve production capacity, product quality, marketing, and business legality. One beneficiary, Lisminah, a shrimp paste producer in Watuagung, has seen her generational business grow with support from PNM Mekaar. Business development is also pursued through a clustering approach, directing the area’s marine products towards value-added processing rather than just selling raw commodities. Mentoring covers production, halal certification, business legality, branding, and packaging, aiming to boost the competitiveness of local products and expand market access. PNM President Director Kindaris stated that the success of empowerment is not solely measured by the amount of financing disbursed, but by the tangible changes in the lives of customers and their families. ‘These changes come in simple yet real forms: growing businesses, stronger family incomes, job creation, and children getting better educational opportunities,’ he said. Beyond economic empowerment, PNM extends its benefits through the Ruang Pintar programme, which provides free learning spaces and mentoring for the families and children of PNM Mekaar customers who have limited access to supplementary education. PNM believes that strengthening women’s economic capacity has a sustainable impact on families, as increased income not only meets household needs but also opens opportunities for children to access better education and capacity building. This empowerment programme is part of PNM’s efforts to expand the impact of its flagship customer development through the #PNMuntukUMKM and #PNMPemberdayaanUMKM campaigns, continuing the previous year’s #CariTauLangkahBaru initiative. On the same occasion, the Coordinating Minister, together with the National Alms Agency (Baznas), distributed economic empowerment aid through the ZMart Pesantren, Baznas Ultra Micro (BUMi) Mosque, and Santripreneur programmes in Gresik. The event, held at the Ihyaul Ulum Islamic Boarding School, saw the distribution of IDR 350 million for seven ZMart units, IDR 500 million for five mosques under the BUMi Programme, and IDR 21 million for a Santripreneur circular economy-based farming programme. Baznas Chairman Sodik Mudjahid noted that since 2022, Baznas has allocated tens of billions of rupiah for the ZMart and BUMi programmes, with East Java alone now having approximately 23 ZMart units and hundreds of participating mosques across various regions.