Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy (Menparekraf) Sandiaga Uno acknowledged that the City of Banjarmasin, South Kalimantan has extraordinary creative economic potential (ekraf). This was said when reviewing the 2022 Indonesian Creative Appreciation (AKI) finalists in Banjarmasin as the sixth city for the 2022 AKI, a flagship program for creative and creative development through capacity building and exhibitions for creative economy actors in the culinary, craft, fashion, applications, film, sub-sectors. and music.
"We see the rise of MSMEs in South Kalimantan, especially Banjarmasin. Many areas will support the transition of the extractive economy to the creative economy. New renewable energy and transformative economic activity will create 1.1 million new jobs this year in tourism and the creative economy. In 2024, we can create 4.4 new jobs," said Sandiaga in his statement on Tuesday (19/7/2022).
Menparekraf as AKI 2022 Super Mentor emphasizes the principles that must be owned by an entrepreneur, by applying the principles of innovation, collaboration, adaptation and digitization. He believes that this must have become part of entrepreneurs and AKI participants, what needs to be improved is digitalization. “His creations are very innovative, involving a lot of craftsmen and creative economy players, ranging from crafts, culinary and fashion. I am optimistic that this transformation, replacing coal to a renewable economy can be realized," he said. Sandiaga added that the gold medal winner of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Greysia Polii, will be a mentor for SMEs that have been curated. "We are fortunate that the world-class figure Greysia Polii will provide mentorship to SMEs that have been curated. And we hope this will be our encouragement to build the economy, "said Sandiaga. Not many people know that Greysia is also an entrepreneur from the local shoe brand Fine Counsel.
Menparekraf does not deny that the current economic situation is very difficult. Even though commodity prices have increased, despite seeing the economic side that is starting to squirm, there are still many brothers and sisters who need to be assisted by empowering economic actors, especially the MSME level. "Currently there is a food and energy crisis in sight. We must present real and concrete solutions. Our presence in Banjarmasin is a manifestation of our concern for the economy of the people who still need help," said Sandiaga Uno. During his visit in Banjarmasin, Menparekraf Sandiaga Uno talked with Suratman, a former drug addict who was caught in a legal case and received design training at the Creative and Smart House. Suratman's work in the form of an outer was used by Sandiaga Uno during his visit. Later Suratman will be flown to Sidoarjo, East Java to learn how to make shoes. Creative House needs a sewing machine to make shoes, because the existing machines are only specifically for sewing clothes. Answering this need, Sandiaga assigned a search for a shoe sewing machine immediately. "Hopefully the sewing machine can be delivered to the Creative and Smart House as soon as possible," he said.
Talking about tourism, Sandiaga hopes that with the addition of the number of flights and the addition of seat availability as well as collaboration with the Ministry of Transportation, the flow of tourists to South Kalimantan can be increased. Based on the information received, Sandiaga said the Ministry of Transportation would increase the number of flights. "We are now at the 70% level, before the pandemic there were 100 flights per day. We hope that this 70% will become 80% to 90% so that by the end of the year it is expected to return to the period before the pandemic, "said Menparekraf Sandiaga. Apresiasi Kreasi Indonesia (AKI) 2022 consists of two main agendas, namely bootcamp (capacity building) and exhibitions (displaying and buying and selling of creative products). The distance between the implementation of the bootcamp and the exhibition is about one month. The AKI 2022 program takes place in 16 cities/regencies in Indonesia, namely Banda Aceh, Padang, Pekanbaru, Jambi, Cilegon, Tangerang, Tasikmalaya, Cirebon, Tegal, Yogyakarta, Sidoarjo, Jember, Banjarmasin, Pontianak, Kendari, and Ambon.
