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.