In regard to welcoming the AEC (ASEAN Economic Community) 2015, every single aspect of Indonesian entrepreneurship is currently preparing itself. Government, academics, business owners, and social organizations, all work together to upgrade the quality of SMEs and startups in Indonesia, and one of their attempts would be the Global Entrepreneurship Week Indonesia (GEWI) Summit 2014 on last November 21, 2014.
Global Entrepreneurship Week (GEW) is the world’s largest festival held by innovators and business owners who have established startups with fresh ideas, pushed economic growth, and enhanced people’s prosperity. Being launched since 2011, GEW, which was established by Ciputra Foundation, Global Entrepreneurship Program Indonesia, Endeavor Indonesia, StartupLokal, Sinar Foundation, Freelancer.com, and many more, has become one of most prestigious events out there for startups and SMEs.
In the latest GEWI 2014 last week, DKI Jakarta’s Governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama (Ahok) was featured as one of keynote speakers. He emphasized that entrepreneurs have fundamental role in shaping a nation. His short speech was closed by a statement suggesting that it’s clearly wrong for business owners to try bribing authorities and bureaucrats in order to get what they want.
“In today’s digitalized market, the ecosystem is no longer similar to the one we had in the age of industry. Previously, those who have the money would absolutely win, but not today. Currently, the level of creativity possessed defines a nation,” Ahok said (21/11).
Other than the Jakarta’s Governor, GEWI 2014 also featured a number of world-class prominent speakers, including Priceline.com and ColorJar.com’s co-founder Jeff Hoffman, Research & Policy of Ewing Marion Kauffman’s VP Dane Stangler, and Global Entrepreneurship Week’s VP Buke Cuhadar.
To enrich the insight from local perspective, GEW held a panel session with Sintesa Group’s CEO Shinta Kamadani and Ideosource’s Founder Andi Boediman. The session was then followed by the Talk-A-Thon from local startup founders like Helma Kusuma (Freelancer), Vincent Iswaratioso (Indomog), Hadi Wenas (aCommerce), Rama Mamuaya (DailySocial), Natali Ardianto (Tiket), Steven Kim (Qraved), Anne Avantie (Anne Avantie), and Bernhard Soebiakto (Octovate).
During the event, a communication media that covers all startups in Indonesia was launched by the name of “STARTUP Indonesia”. The media is projected to present every thing related to startups’ operation and profitability, as well as helping them attracting partners and investors.