Jakarta, 19 December 2022 -- The government through the Ministry of Cooperatives and SMEs involving PT Bank Negara Indonesia (Persero) Tbk. or BNI (stock code: BBNI) launched the KUR program with a business group or cluster-based scheme. The KUR Cluster launching event was attended by Indonesian President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) at the Merdeka Palace in Jakarta on Monday (19/12/2022).
President Jokowi said that in order for Indonesia's economic growth to continue to grow, national Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) must continue to be encouraged. For this reason, KUR Cluster is very appropriate in helping MSMEs to exist, grow and develop.
President Director of BNI, Royke Tumilaar said, as a KUR distributor, BNI continues to strive to increase access to financing to MSMEs, one of which is through the KUR Cluster Program. BNI is committed to financing, empowering, and assisting MSMEs to grow and develop to support the national economy.
"We are trying to form a financial close system (close loop transaction), easy access to markets, financing, ease of providing offtakers, promotion and networking to be able to go global export orientation," he said.
As for the distribution of KUR, the BNI Cluster contributed 23% of the total distribution of KUR BNI 2022. The cluster strategy is needed for acquisition, especially in the production sector with 99% of the portion in the agricultural sector. The distribution of BNI Cluster KUR focuses on 8 (eight) leading agricultural clusters in accordance with the direction of the Ministry of SOEs, namely the rice, corn, oil palm, sugarcane, citrus, ornamental plants, coffee, and porang clusters.
The agricultural sector is entering a period of accelerated transformation that further strengthens national productivity and food security. The distribution of BNI Cluster KUR is the right financial solution for farmers in carrying out agricultural cultivation.
One of the BNI Cluster KUR partners presented was Mahkota Coffee. In addition to supporting forest sustainability (green economy), Mahkota Coffee has also sold its products internationally through the Xpora BNI program.
Royke revealed, one of BNI's program initiatives in supporting the distribution of KUR Clusters on coffee commodities is the Jejak Kopi Khatulistiwa (JKK) BNI Program, which is a green economy support program to preserve forests by empowering the economy of the surrounding communities through KUR Clusters. This program is a synergy between BNI and the relevant Ministries to create coffee commodity ecosystem development from upstream to downstream.
BNI's Jejak Kopi Khatulistiwa program has advantages that can be utilized by coffee farmers, including providing coffee product grading services in stages with the collaboration of Puslitkoka, providing opportunities for financing to farmers receiving social forestry decrees, education for the potential for gradual market absorption (grading market), and providing export support through Xpora for MSME business actors.
"Hopefully, the KUR Cluster in the BNI Equatorial Coffee Trail Program will further improve the welfare of farmers, support the green economy and strengthen the acceleration of national economic growth amid global turbulence in 2023," he said. (*)