REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- Entrepreneurship can provide more job opportunities for 40 percent of Indonesia's population, most of which is below 30 years of age, the CEO of Malaysian company of Nadi Ayu Technologies, Nadira Mohd Yusoff, said here on Wednesday.
"The population of productive age could cause economic and social problems if jobs opportunities are not sufficient," Nadira, who was awarded the Malaysian Outstanding Women Entrepreneurship Award, at the ASEAN Women Entrepreneurs Forum 2015, stated on the sidelines of the 12th World Islamic Economic Forum taking place from August 2 to 4 in Jakarta.
According to her, if entrepreneurship in Indonesia is not developed properly, then within ten years from now, the government and people will have to deal with the problem of unemployment which will have an impact on national economic and social conditions.
"Entrepreneurship is not about getting extra money. Instead, it provides more opportunities for more people, thus expanding jobs and ensuring a decent income," Nadira added.
Women, she pointed out, can help develop the entrepreneurial sector and thus make available more jobs.
"Women can participate in economic development through entrepreneurship by using digital technology so that they do not have to leave home and family," she remarked.
Nadira is currently managing ASEAN Great Women project, an effort to provide women entrepreneurs from across the Southeast Asian region a business platform.
The project embraces women across the region in a business chain from production processes to marketing and selling such lifestyle products as handbags.
This product making process has brought together women in the Philippines, who are searching for raw materials for women weavers in other countries, who, in turn, are making the final products based on the concepts given by ASEAN women designers.
Finally, the products are marketed and sold in Europe and the US, where people with high purchasing power can afford these and appreciate the making process, Nadira underlined.