Antara, Jakarta – Indonesian President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) proposed a number of Indonesian economic and social development figures to receive the Nobel Prize for their contribution to the development of the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) sector when opening the BRI Microfinance Outlook 2024 agenda in Jakarta, Thursday, Antara news agency reported.
"Mr. Muhammad Yunus got the Nobel Prize because Grameen Bank has 6.5 million customers. Mr. Sunarso should have been given the Nobel," said President Jokowi, referring to the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize from Bangladesh.
Several names proposed by President Jokowi to receive the Nobel Prize include President Director of PT Bank Rakyat Indonesia (Persero) Tbk (BBRI) Sunarso for achieving the distribution of MSME capital loans through ultra-micro financing (UMi), which now reaches 8.2 million customers.
President Jokowi said Indonesia is also developing the MSME sector through the Membina Ekonomi Keluarga Sejahtera (Mekaar) Program under the guidance of Permodalan Nasional Madani (PNM), which has succeeded in attracting 15.2 million customers under the leadership of PNM President Director Arief Mulyadi.
One example, said Jokowi, is the effort to develop the MSME sector through the capital participation of the PNM Mekaar Program, which has been running since 2015.
He said that "PNM Mekaar jumped from 400 thousand to 15.2 million, and the credit provided has been Rp244 trillion. From the previous 2015, I remember approximately Rp800 billion, then entered into Rp244 trillion. That's a huge leap. Things like this should be appreciated".
"I don't know. Maybe we haven't gotten it because no one has proposed it," he said, suggesting that the names be proposed to the Nobel Committee.
According to President Jokowi, 65 million MSME players have supported 61 percent of Indonesia's economic gross domestic product (GDP).