Vice presidential candidate Gibran Rakabuming Raka met with thousands of entrepreneurs in Sragen, Central Java, on Monday, and promised, if elected, to introduce an incubator program to help them grow their businesses.

The Surakarta mayor, who also owns food and beverage businesses, said the program would be aimed at micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs).

Gibran’s campaign has favored direct interactions with the public and has highlighted issues facing MSME players.

At the meeting, the candidate and businesspeople discussed challenges in securing business loans, inadequate awareness of branding and business regulations, the effective management of MSMEs for upward mobility and price increases of essential raw materials, among other topics.

Gibran proposed an incubation model for Sragen similar to the one used in Surakarta, also in Central Java.

"If you go to Solo [Surakarta], there is something called incubation for MSMEs. Later [in the program], there is supervision of packages, branding, marketing and capital," Gibran said at the meeting, as quoted by Kompas.

“What’s been done in Solo, I will implement in Sragen as well.”

In addition, Gibran said he planned to clarify regulations for street vendors. 

“It's not that [street vendors] are prohibited from selling, [rather] it needs to be regulated and cannot take place just anywhere," said Gibran.

“We will ensure there are designated locations for street vendors, [and] we clearly never want to make it unnecessarily challenging.”

Toward the end of the meeting, Gibran urged his supporters to be circumspect in their media consumption ahead of the 2024 elections. 

"Above all, let's not be provoked by slander or social media hoaxes," he said.

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