On March 27-30, 2022, entrepreneurs, policy makers, investors and startup ecosystem builders from around the world will convene at the Global Entrepreneurship Congress (GEC) to bring ideas to life, drive economic growth and expand human welfare through the pandemic and beyond.
Delegations from 180+ countries will rally to share ways of rebooting, rethinking and regenerating their economies through cross-border collaboration on policies and programs that target a better, more sustainable and equitable post-pandemic world.
As part of a series spotlighting GEC Delegation Builders around the world, Ivan Sandjaja, Managing Director of GEN Indonesia and official GEC Delegation Builder, shares what you should know about Indonesia's entrepreneurship ecosystem and the delegation coming to GEC 2022.
GEN: Give us a birds-eye view of your country's entrepreneurship ecosystem. What are its strengths, opportunities and areas for improvement?
Ivan: The Indonesian ecosystem is dispersed across the archipelago but with a demographic bonus: Indonesia is growing with its 270+ million inhabitants.
With over 50% of its demographic under the age of 30, Indonesia has enormous potential to build a vibrant entrepreneurial youth ecosystem. Many young people are poised to create startups, making them less dependent on job searches after their college graduation.
Technology advancements and education are two of the largest challenges Indonesia has to navigate. Indonesia’s education system has evolved slowly. Indonesian educators must “become enablers” rather than teaching instructors. Our president has called for a "Mental Revolution" among all stakeholders in education to create an entrepreneurial mindset not only among the students, but also among all educators and bureaucrats.
Along with the dire need for education reform, Indonesia needs more access to digital technologies that can further market growth and create more tech-savvy people. We hope to build an ecosystem where Indonesians can look at ways to address various societal challenges with the help of technology such as AI, 3D-printing, advanced manufacturing, AR/VR, the Metaverse and more.
Overall, Indonesia offers opportunities for collaboration and partnerships with entrepreneurs around the world through our vast national market accompanied with the easy access to the entire Southeast Asian regional market.
GEN: The theme of the GEC is "Reboot, Rethink, Regenerate" in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. How has the pandemic impacted your country's entrepreneurship ecosystem?
Ivan: Despite the many people who initially lost their employment because of the slowing down of the economy, the COVID-19 pandemic also served as a blessing in disguise of sorts for Indonesia. To sustain their livelihood, many Indonesians started their own businesses, creating a strong SME ecosystem which has become a solid backbone for Indonesia’s economic recovery.
With the appointment of the G20 President in 2022, Indonesia proved that its "push-pull" policy strategy helped maintain the COVID infection rate, by avoiding a total lockdown like in many other countries.
Alongside the hard work from Indonesian policy makers in accelerating the provision of infrastructure in the country, such as internet connection, young people were coerced to be creative and innovative as well.
The Indonesian G20 Presidency theme of “Recover Together, Recover Stronger” is in line with the GEC theme as Indonesia is willing to share its experience globally. We hope to align with other countries to support the growth of their national entrepreneurship ecosystem, therefore strengthening the backbone of their economic recovery.
GEN: How can your country's entrepreneurship ecosystem support economic recovery from COVID-19?
Ivan: As mentioned above, Indonesia never implemented a full lockdown during the entire COVID-19 pandemic as the Indonesian government saw the (potentially) huge negative impact on its national economy.
As a result, all regional municipalities under the leadership of the central government followed a "push-pull" policy when the pandemic was peaking. Such strategy has given a fruitful outcome considering the Indonesian economy is still growing at a decent rate.
Certainly, great cooperation between the people and law enforcement was needed to ensure the implementation of the health protocol. It is no easy task to ensure 270+ million people wear a mask, wash their hands and keep a safe distance among all, but with constant and regular enforcement, it turns out that it can work well.
Just within the past two years of the pandemic, Indonesia has doubled the number of its startup unicorns. Despite the pandemic, the economy keeps growing and foreign investors keep pouring their money into businesses that have proven the effectiveness of their business models.
GEN: How will your country be represented at the Global Entrepreneurship Congress? Tell us about the delegation you are pulling together.
Ivan: We have assembled a national delegation consisting of representatives from the government, academia, our business community as well as ecosystem supporters.
When we get the travel permission, two state ministers, one deputy minister, a dozen of faculty members from various universities and schools as well as representatives from several ecosystem supporters such Indonesian VC Association and Indonesian Co-working Association will be joining us.
GEN: Why is the GEC an important event for your country to be part of?
Ivan: GEC is the largest entrepreneurial event in the world where all ecosystem stakeholders can meet, network, and share their thoughts and experiences to explore potential international collaborations in the future.
GEN: What are you and your delegation most looking forward to at the GEC?
Ivan: We are most looking forward to the physical networking and the opportunity to learn what has been going on in other parts of the world.
GEN: Name the top three things you would like to achieve at the GEC.
Ivan: At the GEC, I would like for the Indonesian government to learn from other policy makers on how we can better support our ecosystem at the Ministerial Meeting.
I would hope for Indonesians to attend education related sessions and forums, where all educators can get to know each other and to potentially develop their education system through exchange of experience.
Finally, I hope to meet other entrepreneurs themselves to learn about the great, new, and crazy things they do to develop solutions that help address the challenges in society.
To learn more and register for the Global Entrepreneurship Congress, visit www.gec.co.