Jakarta, 17 April 2023. The “Modal Pintar” 2023 competition organised by PT XL Axiata Tbk (XL Axiata) through Sisternet has entered the final stage. At this stage, the eight best MSMEs managed by women were announced. The eight MSMEs are Nasta Rofika from Mojokerto, Dini Fuadillah Sofyan from Bekasi, Khatarine Paula from Surabaya, Sani Sandyani from Bandung, Miranda Warokka from Tangerang, Hesti Adillah from Bekasi, Eni Mahmudah from Malang and Shinta Aviyani from Cileungsi. The eight best MSMEs will receive a total capital prize of IDR 200 million. The final stage of the judging process and the announcement of the winners will be held in Jakarta on Thursday (13/4).
In her speech, the Minister of PPPA of the Republic of Indonesia, Bintang Puspayoga, said, "Women who are economically empowered will participate in improving the welfare of their families. Empowered women will also participate in providing proper nutrition and education for their children, and improve family welfare. They will also be able to minimise domestic violence, child exploitation practices and child marriage, which are closely related to poverty. In the long run, empowered women will enhance sustainable development."
Data shows that women make up almost half of Indonesia's population. Therefore, the progress of human resources that the nation aspires to will not be achieved if it is not accompanied by efforts to empower women and gender mainstreaming. Women are at the forefront of strengthening Indonesia's economy after the COVID-19 pandemic. In entrepreneurship, women currently occupy a superior position compared to men, where 65.5 million Indonesian MSMEs, of which 64 million are micro businesses, of which more than half are owned and managed by women, explained Bintang Puspayoga further.
Meanwhile, on the same occasion, President Director & CEO of XL Axiata, Dian Siswarini, revealed, "Thank God, XL Axiata through Sisternet is still enthusiastic in continuing the Smart Capital 2023 Competition. In this year's round, more and more female MSMEs participated. The business ideas they created were even more diverse. Since the launch of the “Modal Pintar” 2023 Competition held by Sisternet, the company hopes to benefit more MSMEs, especially women-owned ones."
"We certainly hope that this program can motivate more female MSME players to go global. Coinciding with the month of Ramadan, Sisternet announced the eight best MSMEs that have successfully gone through the judging process. These eight MSMEs are considered to have been able to utilise the existing digital facilities so as to trigger their level to a higher standard," continued Dian.
The “Modal Pintar” 2023 competition has attracted more than 14 thousand MSMEs who have registered since it was opened on 22 December 2022 until 3 February 2023. The participants are required to submit a business plan article through the Sisternet application. The participants are Indonesian women-assisted MSMEs which include those from the cities of Jakarta, Surabaya, Bandung, Yogyakarta, Denpasar, Pekanbaru, Malang, Surakarta Bandar Lampung and Madiun.
The next selection process is to select 160 potential MSME participants who can proceed to the business management incubation class stage. After that, another selection was made to select 26 finalists to enter the advisory session stage and proceed to the judging which took place on 13 April 2023. The 26 finalists presented their business plans in front of the judges.
Present as judges in session 1 were Associate Expert Planner, Ministry of Women Empowerment and Child Protection, Helsyanita, Head of Enterprise Channel Management at XL Axiata, Rusli Moningka and Founder of Kebab Baba Rafi, Nilam Sari. In session 2, Assistant Deputy Minister of Cooperatives and SMEs for Information Technology Development and Business Incubation of the Republic of Indonesia, Christina Agustin, Head of Marketing Home Business at XL Axiata, Bianca Hardini and Founder of the Local Enablers, Dwi Purnomo were present.
In the final stage, the judges then determined the eight best MSMEs that received a total capital prize of IDR 200 million, an exhibition/bazaar slot in their respective domiciles and also a router package from XL Satu. The women-assisted MSMEs with the best business plans that emerged as winners are:
The first winner of the “Modal Pintar” 2023 Competition, Nasta Rofika, revealed that, "The “Modal Pintar” 2023 Competition is a program that taught me many things. Not to mention I got a lot of insights from experts that I have never got before. In addition, fellow finalists also support and learn from each other."
Going forward, XL Axiata together with the Ministry of Cooperatives and SMEs, and the Ministry of Women's Empowerment and Child Protection of the Republic of Indonesia hope to continue to collaborate, and provide opportunities for women MSME owners to take part in various digital skills classes needed for their business development.