Trade Minister Urges Students to Become 'Export Activists' and Job Creators

Bogor (ANTARA) - Trade Minister Budi Santoso has invited university students to become ‘export activists’ capable of pushing micro, small, and medium enterprise (MSME) products into international markets while also creating jobs after graduation. During the Campuspreneur 2026 event at IPB University, Bogor, West Java, on Friday, Budi stressed the importance of students having big dreams and ambitions from an early stage, including becoming successful exporters. According to him, an entrepreneurial spirit must be instilled so that the younger generation is not solely focused on seeking employment, but is also able to open business opportunities for the community. “Be an activist, everyone must be an activist, but an export activist. So we are looking for positive things,” said Budi. He explained that the Ministry of Trade has prepared various facilities to support students wishing to enter the export world, ranging from training and free product design consultations to business matching programmes with prospective buyers from abroad. The Ministry also plans to provide a special space for Campuspreneur programme participants at the Trade Expo Indonesia (TEI), which will take place on 14-18 October. The exhibition will feature international buyers and offer students an opportunity to promote their products to the global market. The Ministry of Trade currently cooperates with 19 universities in a young exporter development programme. The programme includes export training, mentoring, and facilitation of business meetings with potential buyers through the network of Trade Attachés and Indonesian Trade Promotion Centres (ITPC) in various countries. Budi noted that the business matching programme for MSMEs has shown positive results. In 2025, recorded transactions reached 134.8 million US dollars, or more than Rp2 trillion, with around 70 per cent of participants being businesses that had never previously exported. Meanwhile, in the January-April 2026 period, the transaction value has already reached 193.88 million US dollars, surpassing the entire previous year’s total. Budi expressed hope that more students would dare to become young entrepreneurs and exporters, thereby strengthening the competitiveness of Indonesian products in the global market while creating new jobs. “We want our students, when they graduate, to become entrepreneurs. Don’t be busy looking for work after graduation, but be able to create jobs for our community and for yourselves,” said Budi.