Webinar Belantara Foundation: Village Communities Empowerment through the Development of Small and Medium Business during the Pandemic and the New Norms Era

The COVID19 pandemic has hit various countries in the world including Indonesia. Apart from the large number of casualties experienced by Indonesia, COVID19 also has impacted the country's economic sector. The reduction of employees and also plenty of the businesses collapse are common problems that we are currently facing.

People in villages who are mainly the economic drivers of the agricultural sector have also been affected by the COVID19 pandemic. The lack of market demand and reduced purchasing power are the main factors inhibiting the economic turnaround in the village.

On the other hand, Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), which are strategic players in boosting national economic growth, are also one of the sectors that have suffered losses. The same pattern, namely the decline in people's purchasing power that we are currently facing is also a big obstacle for MSMEs.

This time, Belantara Foundation once again held a webinar with the theme "Empowering Village Communities through the Development of MSMEs during the Pandemic and New Normal Era" as a form of concern and efforts to dialogue with experts as well as MSME players in the field which aims to identify and discuss the roles of several key actors. In addition, to empower the community through the development of MSMEs during the COVID19 pandemic and the era of new norms.

This webinar was held on last Thursday, 17 September 2020 at 09:00 by presenting 4 speakers from each background of expertise and specialization. They are Ir. Leroy Samy Uguy, MA. Ph.D. from the Ministry of Village, Development of Disadvantaged Regions
And Transmigration, Sandy Dwiputra Yulianto, MSMEs coach, Amin Soimin, S.H., M.Si Head of Bungaraya Sub-district, Nugraeni, UMKM Madurasa Kampung Bungaraya.

The webinar event was hosted by Novita Widyastuti, S. M.Si.Par and also attended by Dr. Sri Mariati, Executive Director of Belantara Foundation as a keynote speaker. This webinar discusses policies that have been and will be carried out by the government in empowering villages to be able to survive economically independent during the COVID19 pandemic by representatives from the Ministry of Village, PDTT. Also, it also specifically discusses the implementation of policy directions at the sub-district level local government to increase MSMEs as well as directly listening to complaints from actors of UMKM activities