Minister Yandri Urges Village Youth to Become Entrepreneurs at Gen Z Village Ambassador Festival
Minister of Villages and Development of Disadvantaged Regions (Mendes PDT) Yandri Susanto, together with Serang Regent Ratu Rachmatu Zakiyah, attended the kick-off of the Gen Z Village Ambassador Festival at Kramatwatu Square, Serang, today. The event carried the tagline “Tajir Melintir dari Desa” (Filthy Rich from the Village).
Yandri said the Ministry of Villages PDT has 12 Actions to Build Villages, Build Indonesia, which are derived from the sixth Asta Cita, namely building from the village and from the grassroots level for economic equity and poverty eradication.
“One of them is the Village Pioneer Youth programme, and the Gen Z Village Ambassador is included in it,” Yandri said in his statement on Saturday (29/8/2026).
Yandri added that the ministry also has a programme to send Village Pioneer Youth to Japan to study and work, plus receive scholarships of up to Rp300 million and fantastic salaries.
“This is our way of improving human resources in villages,” Yandri said.
Secondly, Yandri said, the Village Export programme is considered in line with the tagline Tajir Melintir dari Desa. Through this programme, Gen Z in villages are encouraged to develop village potential so that it can eventually be exported.
Yandri revealed that the Ministry of Villages has prepared 49 destination countries for exporting village potential, which will be carried out by Gen Z. According to him, if young people and Gen Z become entrepreneurs from villages, it will drive village development towards becoming Self-Reliant Villages.
“If we succeed in building villages, then in essence we have built Indonesia,” said the former Deputy Speaker of the Indonesian People’s Consultative Assembly (MPR RI).
“Therefore, we strengthen Village Exports, Tourism Villages and Thematic Villages that support the Free Nutritious Meals programme,” he added.
In his remarks, Yandri also reminded village communities to be wiser in using social media by always providing good and correct information.
Similarly, Head of the Development Control and Special Investigation Agency Aris Marsudiyanto campaigned for Jempol Baik (Good Thumb). This movement aims to encourage the public to use their thumbs well when using social media, namely by sharing good news and not hoaxes.
Meanwhile, Ratu appreciated the trust given to Serang Regency to be the implementer of the kick-off of the Gen Z Village Ambassador programme.
According to her, the Gen Z Village Ambassador programme is very positive amid the currents of modernisation and digitalisation. The Ministry of Villages PDT, Ratu said, has opened space to recruit, educate and consolidate Village Youth to become Local Champions with Global Competitiveness.
For information, at the peak of the event, the village communities in attendance were also entertained by singer Charly van Houten. Also present at the event were the Serang Regency Regional Leadership Coordination Forum (Forkompimda), village heads, village associations and the Kramatwatu community.
Accompanying Yandri were Secretary General Taufik Madjid, Inspector General Masyhudi, Director General of Village and Rural Development Nugroho Setijo Nagoro, Director General of Economic Development and Investment Tabrani, Director General of Disadvantaged Regions Development Samsul Widodo, Head of BPI Mulyadin Malik, Head of BPSDM Agustomi Masik, Expert Staff Sugito, Special Staff M Khoirul Huda and Senior High-Ranking Officials within the Ministry of Villages PDT.