Secretary of the Ministry of Cooperatives and SMEs Arif Rahman Hakim invited the village administration along with the community to develop the potential of regional superior products. Including village tourism and nature tourism. "I believe every village has potential that can be developed," Arif said during a discussion with the people of Wanatirta Village, on the sidelines of the Rural Economic Cluster Socialization Public Communication Forum, in Bumiayu, Brebes, Central Java, Saturday (26/11). According to him, the village community must be able to organize the potential of the region so that it can be developed into a superior regional product. "Don't just produce raw materials or raw materials. Instead, they must have added value," he said. He gave an example of a village in Cirebon, only by developing 3 products, was able to penetrate the market to foreign countries. First, sticky rice farmers who are able to process the results into sticky rice tapai. "With good packaging, it can become typical Cirebon souvenirs. The village's turnover reaches IDR 6 billion from sticky rice tapai," he said. Second, he said, the women in the village make woven cloth that is usually used as a parcel box. Even the woven products produced have penetrated the European market, such as the Netherlands. "Third, cricket livestock which also has the potential to generate income. Crickets are the main diet consumed by high-priced birds," explained Arif. He also invited the people of Wanatirta Village to develop a tourism village.
In this sector, various supporting businesses are developing, such as homestays, culinary, souvenirs, crafts, and so on. "This very good natural potential must be maintained and cared for, don't destroy it," he said. According to Arif, this tourism village is a very prospective sector to bring prosperity to the people without over-exploiting nature. "We hope this sector can make a big contribution to the economy of the surrounding community," said Arif. He also mentioned, there is a Social Forestry program that can be utilized by the community. It can be planted with various kinds of plants which are the superior products of a village. "Farmers can take advantage of the land. However, don't do it individually, but join into a forum called a cooperative," he said. Arif encouraged the Bumiayu community to be able to maximize unused land or social forestry so that the land distributed to the community could develop into a business and productive scale. So, the Ministry of Cooperatives will cooperate with a number of start-ups in the agricultural and fisheries sector to work together and provide assistance in the utilization of social forestry land. "Because I am sure, with the social forestry program, it can be a source of economic growth in the region," said Arif. According to him, developing tourist destinations in Indonesia as well as driving the community's economy from eco-friendly tourism activities must be a priority for all parties to implement. It's just that, Arif emphasized that this big homework cannot be done alone, it needs multi-stakeholder collaboration. "We must continue to strengthen the spirit of collaboration in mainstreaming the role of MSMEs in the national economy," said Seskemenkop.
