Stories of UMKM Entrepreneurs in Tangerang Affected by the Pandemic, Rising Through the Mutual Cooperation Program!

Kapanlagi.com - The pandemic has indeed had an impact on various sectors of society's lives. One of them is the UMKM actors who feel the extraordinary impact of the current uncertain conditions. Mutual cooperation is very important to help them revive the economy. This is also felt by Alka Kusmia Chaula, one of the UMKM Cup Bestari actors in Priuk Subdistrict, Tangerang City, who feels helped by the inspirational program from the Tangerang City Government.

Tangerang Emas Program is one of the inspirational programs from the Tangerang City Government that helps Alka expand her business network that was temporarily halted during Covid-19.

“Wow, with this assistance, we are very helped in spinning the community's economy in the surrounding environment. Business can still continue and there is mutual cooperation between business actors,” said Alka with a radiant face.

Tangerang Emas itself is a program aimed at developing small businesses in Tangerang City that have been affected by the pandemic. This program provides unsecured loan assistance for UMKM actors. In addition, the Tangerang City Government also launched the Insentuf Startup Anda or Tangerang BISA assistance program, which provides Rp 500,000 capital assistance to 10,000 business actors in Tangerang City.

For example, Al Firdaus, one of the beneficiaries of the Tangerang BISA program, feels very helped. He who has been laid off since April and started a hydroponic business in his backyard.

"Alhamdulillah, this assistance is very helpful for me who has lost my job during this pandemic. I use this capital to buy some hydroponic seeds and other equipment," he said.

It should be noted that the Tangerang Emas program initiated by the Mayor of Tangerang, Arief R Wismansyah, has been launched since December 2019. This program is an effort by the Tangerang City Government to advance the small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) sector in Tangerang City.

This program is the result of collaboration between the Tangerang City Government and Bank BJB Tangerang City branch, providing interest-free and collateral-free business capital loans, with the main target being novice SMEs in Tangerang City. 

"Hopefully, this program can benefit the people of Tangerang City who are starting their businesses and can create job opportunities for the surrounding community," said Arief.

The assistance received is in the form of revolving funds ranging from IDR 500,000 to IDR 2 million per group with a time limit of 6-24 months. Each group consists of 5-10 people. Tangerang Emas has prepared funds of up to IDR 500 million for business actors who need additional capital to continue or expand their business.

Meanwhile, to be eligible for business capital assistance in the Tangerang BISA program, prospective recipients must be registered as recipients of social assistance (Bansos) for Covid-19-affected communities in the Sidata application in the Tangerang LIVE application. "This is a business capital assistance program for novice entrepreneurs who will start or expand their business during the Covid-19 pandemic," explained Arief.

In addition to Tangerang Emas and Tangerang BISA, the Tangerang City Government also conducts data collection for Tangerang City residents who have SMEs to obtain business capital incentive assistance from the Central Government. The SME Business Capital Stimulus Fund of IDR 2.4 million comes from the Micro Business Productive Assistance (BPUM) program.

The Mayor of Tangerang, Arief R. Wismansyah, explained that the assistance data collection is intended for Tangerang City residents who own SMEs but have not been registered as recipients of business capital incentive assistance. "This BPUM program hopefully can help SME actors to continue developing their businesses during the pandemic," said Arie. 

Registration can be done online through the link sabakota.tangerangkota.go.id or through the Sabakota feature in the Tangerang LIVE application. Then for those who already have an account, you can directly click login. If not, click the register menu first.

The Head of the Department of Industry, Trade, Cooperative, and SMEs (DisperindagkopUKM) of Tangerang City, Teddy Bayu Putra, explained that the data collection for capital assistance recipients from BPUM is intended for SMEs who have not received credit assistance from banks or People's Business Credit (KUR).

"The registration period lasts for one month, and it is free of charge. The registration has been open since October 19 until November 24, 2020," Teddy explained.

(*/wri)