The microfinance financing system is an alternative approach that deserves attention in addressing poverty issues. "Microfinance can overcome poverty, reduce unemployment, and decrease the economic gap among the people," said the Governor of the Special Region of Yogyakarta (DIY), Sri Sultan Hamengkubuwono X, at the International Microfinance Conference 2012 in Yogyakarta on Monday (22/10).
According to Sultan, in recent years, attention to the discourse on microfinance has continuously risen and become a global concern, including in Indonesia. Moreover, the presence of microfinance institutions is absolutely necessary and needs to be introduced with credit schemes that are simple, easy, and appropriate. "This is to address the capital issues that have long been a constraint for entrepreneurs," he said.
Sultan also questioned that if high interest rates are often cited as the main obstacle, why are there still entrepreneurs who use the services of loan sharks, even though the interest rates offered by them are very high.
According to him, the answer to that is simple, namely because loan sharks do not use complicated administrative processes; entrepreneurs just request a loan and within a few hours it is disbursed.
The Head of the Policy and Micro Business Development Division of BRI, Agus Rachmadi, stated that with its experience and capability in providing banking services, especially in the MSME segment, BRI has managed to maintain its performance as the bank with the highest profit for seven consecutive years.
"With its reputation as a microbanking institution that has taken root among the Indonesian people, BRI continually develops services in accordance with the needs of the Indonesian community," said Agus.
The International Microfinance Conference 2012, themed Towards Sustainability and Financial Inclusion, was organized to further explore policies and the latest practices in microfinance innovation from various countries.
The expected benefit of organizing the conference is the exploration of knowledge and experiences related to policies and the implementation of financing schemes for MSMEs.
In addition, another benefit is to provide international information about Indonesia's success in developing microfinance schemes for MSMEs through a program called Kredit Usaha Rakyat (KUR).
Antara