Kadin Yogyakarta expects govt to help entrepreneurs recover

The government is expected to assist the recovery of micro-, small- and medium-scale entrepreneurs (UMKMs) whose businesses had been hit by the Mt. Merapi eruptions, says an executive.

The assistance would come in the form of production tools, raw materials and working capital, said Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s (Kadin) Yogyakarta branch chairman Nur Achmad Affandi.

“Those things are essential for the micro, small and medium entrepreneurs who have lost their houses, business premises and have no savings due to the Merapi eruptions,” Nur Achmad said as quoted by Antara newswire.

To accelerate the recovery of UMKMs, he said, low-interest capital loans could be injected directly by the government or micro-credit support programs.

“In addition, writing off the bank loans of the victims should be done by removing the interest or rescheduling their debts,” he added.

The volcanic eruptions have damaged various sectors, which has hurt the local economy and burdened many debtors will substantial losses.

“The total losses incurred by the UMKM sector because of the eruptions is still being calculated. It is estimated that 100 medium entrepreneurs and 1000 micro and small entrepreneurs have suffered total losses of Rp 600 billion [US$67.2 million] to Rp 1 trillion,” Nur Achmad said.

He said Kadin Yogyakarta would cooperate with Kadin Indonesia and Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID) to help those UMKMs recover.