Pertamina Supports Upgraded MSMEs Through Technology Grant of IDR 690 Billion

Jakarta, March 11, 2024 – Committed to upgrading micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs), PT Pertamina (Persero) provides aid of appropriate technology grants to 28 MSMEs worth IDR 690 billion. The grant for Appropriate Technology Tools has been distributed gradually since late 2023 to encourage MSMEs to 'level up' and go global.

Technology grants were awarded to the Champion MSMEs of Pertamina's UMK Academy in 2023 and the top 10 participants of the Pertapreneur Aggregator. The assistance includes sewing machines, cutting machines, diesel engines, pellet printing machines, food processors, coffee grinders, and other production equipment.

Vice President of Corporate Communication at Pertamina, Fadjar Djoko Santoso, stated that MSMEs are the backbone of the regional and national economy. Pertamina's support for MSMEs is expected to boost their growth and improve family and community economies.

"Pertamina is consistently making efforts to develop MSMEs through training programs, exhibitions, and technology grant assistance so that entrepreneurs can produce highly competitive products, thus having a great opportunity to develop export-oriented products," he said.

Fadjar explained that the UMK Academy is a competition program for Pertamina's Partner Development. This program aims to elevate MSMEs to a higher level or to improve their quality. UMK Academy participants receive coaching through four development curriculums: Go Modern, Go Digital, Go Online, and Go Global. The program lasts for 5 - 6 months, and at the end, entrepreneurs who show improvement can participate in further selection. This selection involves curation by Expert Resource Persons to determine UMK Champions and UMK Aggregators, or MSMEs capable of collaborating with other fostered MSMEs.

One of the grant recipients from the Go Modern class, Sriyati, expressed her happiness in receiving the various cooking equipment she needed. "The equipment is beneficial for us, especially approaching Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr, as our orders for cookies increase,” said the owner of Padma Bakery.

Meanwhile, the Runner-up Champion from the Go Global class, Nindita Nareswari, Owner of Dapur S’Best, admitted to being more disciplined in executing her business plan after attending the UMK Academy. She acknowledged that according to the UMK Academy guidance, S'Best will undergo HACCP (Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point) certification this year to facilitate its expansion to Taiwan and China.

“The certification process is a motivation from Pertamina and expert speakers in the Go Global class so that we can soon fulfill the requirements for cooperation with importers from Taiwan and China,” Nindita said.

S’Best is a Sumatran processed foods producer, such as pempek (fish cake), tenggiri fish crackers, tenggiri fish sticks, snakehead fish snacks, and fish wontons.

Seeing the benefits of the UMK Academy program, Fadjar added that Pertamina will open the UMK Academy 2024 program to attract new high-quality MSMEs. "The enthusiasm from Pertamina's Partner Development Program to continuously improve its quality is very high. We hope that this year more MSMEs will ‘level up’ and even be able to go global and expand into international markets,” he explained.

In the near future, Pertamina will also reopen registration for the UMK Academy 2024, where one of the benefits is Appropriate Technology Production Tool Grants for the Champions.

Pertamina’s commitment to supporting MSMEs follows the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) point 8: promoting sustained, inclusive, and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all

Pertamina, as a leading company in the energy transition, is committed to supporting the Net Zero Emission 2060 target by continuously promoting programs that directly impact the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) achievement. All these efforts align with Environmental, Social & Governance (ESG) implementation across all Pertamina's business lines and operations.