VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Indonesian Minister of Industry Airlangga Hartarto said that the Islamic Boarding School (pesantren) has potential to support the implementation of the 4th industry revolution or Industry 4.0 in Indonesia. In the road map of Making Indonesia 4.0, one of the national priority steps that needs to be done is to empower the micro, small and medium enterprises. Minister Airlangga Hartarto when he accompanied President Joko Widodo in a president’s working visit at Pesantren Bayt Al-Hikmah in Pasuruan, East Java on Saturday (12/5) mentioned that during this time, the Islamic Boarding Scool (pesantren) also contributed to encourage economic growth. There are already many pesantren have built various cooperatives unit both in small scale or medium scale businesses, some even have incubator businesses. Minister Airlangga Hartarto also said that the Ministry of Industry is intensively implementing new industry business and the development of industry unit in the area of pesantren namely Santripreneur. Nearly 70 percent of Indonesian businessmen implementing their business in the sector of Micro, Small and Medium entrepreneurs. These are quite strong capital in facing 4.0 industry revolution. Minister Airlangga Hartarto also added that pesantren has a big potential to create new business and grow the small and medium industry sectors. Based on data from Religious Ministry, during 2014-2015, there are almost 29 thousands pesantren spread in all provinces in Indonesia with more than 4 million pesantren students (santri). From the total of Islamic boarding schools, about 23 thousands pesantren or 80 percent of them are located in 4 provinces namely West Java, East java, Central Java and Banten. With the improvement of digital era nowadays, the Minister is optimistic that the santri are able to be agent of strategic changes in developing the Indonesian nation and economy in the future. Up to 10 years ahead, Indonesia will enjoy demography bonus when the country’s population are dominated by productive ages with 15 to 64 years old to 70 percent. Currently, Indonesian economy is in the 16th rank in the world. In accordance with an aspiration in Making Indonesia 4.0 the Minister hoped, Indonesia becomes the world's top 10 most powerful economy in 2030. Therefore, the Industry Minisry is committed to support the development of the national small and medium industries in the digital economy era, by developing e-commerce platform or e-Smart IKM. Minister Airlangga said that the industry ministry in cooperation with a number of marketplacs to give e-Smart IKM workshop to several regions in Indonesia. The minister also hoped, the santri can utilize the opportunities. Meanwhile, Director General of small, medium industry, Gati Wibawaningsih has stated that her office has targeted 18 Islamic Boarding Schools (pesantren) to be model in implementing the Santipreneur program this year. The pesantren are located in 8 regions in West Java, 5 regions in Central Java, and 5 regions in East Java.