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PNM Bekasi brings smiles to poor village
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T Permodalan Nasional Madani (PNM) hosted an iftar media event called "Live On Ramadan" with outstanding customers of its PNM Mekaar (Fostering Prosperous Household Economy) program.
As part of PT PNM’s ongoing efforts to strengthen and empower the grassroots economy, PNM Mekaar plays a crucial role in driving innovation, creating opportunities and realizing shared dreams of growth for its customers across the nation.
One such product is Keripik Rajungan Mama Muda (Mama Muda's crab chips), which was created by Rita of PNM Mekaar’s Makassar branch and reviewed by President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo. During “Live On Ramadan”, Rita shared how she started her business and how she felt when the President praised her product.
"I started making crab chips because of COVID, when lots of crab were not being bought or exported. So I welcomed a suggestion to start a business using readily available ingredients," Rita told the media event.
"I felt happy and touched when [my product] received praise from the President of the Republic of Indonesia. At that time, 60 SMEs were selected to participate in the event attended by the President, but he chose to highlight only two [products]. All of this is thanks to PNM," Rita said.
The other product the President praised was Keripik Miskin Rasa Mewah (luxury flavor poor chips) made by Jubaedah, a customer representative at PNM Mekaar Bekasi. Jubaedah explained that the main ingredient in her uniquely named crackers was galangal root, which had health benefits for people with gastric problems.
"I started this business because at that time, my village was classified as a poor village across nine [indicators], including the three [indicators] of having no MSMEs [micro, small and medium enterprises], lack of health facilities and lack of educational facilities,” she said.
“So I was encouraged to start a business with affordable capital that involved the elderly, so they could stay productive. At that time, I also told my neighbors about PNM. Aside from providing capital, PNM also helped me with licensing for [my] cracker business," Jubaedah added.
PT PNM has disbursed Rp 12.5 trillion (US$790 million) in loans from January to February this year alone.
The President Director of PT Permodalan Nasional Madani, Arief Mulyadi, also attended the “Live On Ramadan” event.
"Until February, Rp 12.5 trillion [was disbursed] in two months, January and February," Arief told reporters after the event.
Continuing, Arief said PT PNM’s expansion plans included embracing young customers by leveraging the younger generation.
He also explained that the PNM Mekaar ecosystem had become its own strength, serving 15.2 million active customers in 6,165 districts and 435 regencies/cities.
"With different geographies and demographics, there will definitely be a young ecosystem that can accompany these women and of course, we will embrace them. Even if it's not us who do it, we will collaborate with other financial institutions, perhaps those closest to our holding company, BRI and Pegadaian," he added.
To optimize empowerment, PNM also helps with exporting its customers’ products through facilitating the provision of 1.2 million Business Identification Numbers (NIB), so their businesses are registered as formal entities.
PNM is a financing institution that assists and guides underprivileged Indonesian women who are active players in the ultra-micro business sector. PNM provides not only business capital, but also various training workshops to ultra-micro entrepreneurs so they can improve their product quality.
PNM has around 15.2 million customers across Indonesia to date. It is committed to empowering its customers through providing financial assistance and mentoring programs, two sides of the same coin that help small businesses thrive.
