Nurturing Youth Entrepreneurship

Nurturing Youth Entrepreneurship

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono witnessed the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding on June 24, 2005 between Minister of Youth and Sports Affairs Adyaksa Dault and Ki Tony Agus Ardie, the coordinator of the Yogyakarta-based Task Force for the Empowerment of Small and Medium Enterprises. The MoU is intended to facilitate the designing and implementing of joint programs to nurture youth entrepreneurship.

Acting chairman of the Indonesian Cooperatives Council, Sri- Edi Swasono, and the chairman of the Indonesian Fishermen's Association, Summaryo Sumiskum, also signed the agreement.

"The agreement will mobilize the resources of the four organizations for the purpose of creating models for the development of youth entrepreneurship in various sectors, such as agriculture, fishing, manufacturing, handicrafts and services," Tony said.

Tony is also the chairman of the Indonesian Indokor Group, which has developed a model for the development of small and medium enterprises in Yogyakarta.

He added, "We need to prevent young people falling under the sway of bad influences, such as social ills like drugs and pornography. Providing them with productive employment is one way of doing this."

Tony said that the nurturing of youth entrepreneurship could not be left up to market mechanisms alone, but needed to be supported by the combined efforts of various social, business and governmental institutions.