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Bekraf grants Rp 4.5b to support creative economy
The Creative Economy Agency (Bekraf) will channel Rp 4
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he Creative Economy Agency (Bekraf) will channel Rp 4.5 billion (US$320,613) in grants to 62 creative economy businesses so they can boost productivity as the share of the creative economy's contribution to GDP continues to increase.
The agency will channel the funds through the government incentive aid (BIP) program aimed at giving additional working capital to small and medium enterprises so they can be bankable, said Bekraf nonbanking access director Syaifullah Agam.
Small businesses, especially those in the creative industry, often cannot get bank loans because of the “rigidity” of its system, and grants could help boost the creative sector, he added.
“We encourage them to be a formal business entity so they can contribute to the nation’s economy by paying taxes,” Syaifullah said on Tuesday.
The creative economy contributed 7.4 percent to Indonesia’s GDP in 2016, with growth expected to reach 9.6 percent this year to top Rp 1.2 quadrillion, according to Bekraf.
The growth rate will be much higher than the overall economy that grew 5.05 percent in the second quarter year-on-year, a trend that has been seen in the past few years.
In its third year, Bekraf’s grants have reached more business owners as it allowed registration from five subsectors, namely crafts, culinary, digital apps and games, fashion and film.
One of the recipients was Sri Andriani from Malang, East Java, who applied for Rp 95 million to improve her wooden shoes business.
She plans to use the money to rent a place for her integrated shoe factory. She said she would also buy tools such as a table-saw and materials like wood and batik fabric.
“My business has been running since 2014, but we only became a legal business entity last year to be eligible to apply for the BIP,” Sri said.
She went on to say that her team could produce up to 100 shoes a day, and she hoped that by having a more sophisticated factory her business' productivity would increase.
In the digital apps and game sector, Panji Prabowo from Bandung, West Java, also received a grant to develop his online queuing system app celled Qiwii.
People can book hospital or salon appointments and reserve a place at a restaurant by registering to the app. It will tell the user how many people are queueing for the same service and the estimated waiting time.
Panji plans to buy more computers with better specifications and add more server capacity with the grant.
“The app is only available for Android users for now, so my team needs Apple Mac computers to develop the app for iOS,” he said.
Panji went on to say that his business was doing well with about 100 companies and institutions registered, as well as 25,000 people using his application to date.
He expressed hope to expand his app’s coverage in Greater Jakarta after receiving the grant.
Bekraf community funds subdirectorate head Hanifa said Bekraf received more than 7,000 registrations this year from at least 27 cities.
“We will deposit the full grant in the recipients’ bank account,” she said, adding that each person was entitled to up to Rp 100 million.
Interest has been growing among creative economy players to apply for the grant. Last year, the BIP was given to 52 recipients from four subsectors, while in 2016 funds were granted to 34 people from two sectors, according to Bekraf venture capital subdirectorate head Herwanto Sidik Prabowo.
“Each year more people register while the BIP budget has stayed the same, so we offset the incentives,” he said, adding that last year, each participant was able to get up to Rp 200 million. (eyc)
