Institut Teknologi Bandung

This national scale seminar was intended to foster the spirit and passion of entrepreneurship amongst young generation and inspire them to become the "real" entrepreneur. The theme being endorsed is "Entrepreneurship for Nation" which is how an entrepreneur can contribute for Indonesia, in which one of the way is by giving additional value to environment and social aspect.

Generally, the seminar gave explanation of entrepreneurship from two standpoint, which are from the viewpoint of young entrepreneurs (start-up) whose companies are small-medium scale enterprise and from the outlook of professional businessmen whose companies are big-scale corporations. This seminar presented 7 guest speakers, 
they are Ananda Siregar (owner of Blitz Megaplex), Silverius Oscar Unggul (Social Entrepreneur of The Year 2008 Ernst & Young), Pandji Pragiwaksono (owner of REF Basketball Inc), Hendy Setiono (owner of Kebab Baba Rafi), Dahlan Iskan (founder of Jawapos Group, Head Director of PLN), Karmaka Surjaudaja (founder of Bank OCBC 
NISP), and Hiramsyah Thaib (CEO of Bakrieland).

Indonesia in Need of Entrepreneurs

"It's crucial to realize that nowadays the number of unemployment in Indonesia has reached around 17.4%. Added by increasing amount of working batch and graduates of  universities, the number must be rising. So, there is a need for huge vacancy to deal with the problem," said Hiramsyah who also owned Komik Kafe business. "If all 
apply for jobs, then who will give job? That is the mindset that we need to change. Indonesia needs young entrepreneurs," he added.

Indonesia is one of dominant countries joining G20. With economic growth of 6.1% the consumption level will step-up too, so this is a great chance for young 
entrepreneur.

Becoming an Entrepreneur Who Can Contribute to the Nation

Passion and fighting spirit are the most important things in creating a business. "Problems and obstacles will always exist within it. We will surely deal with difficult phase, but the key is our choice to keep rising up or being left behind," explained the Head Director of PT PLN (Persero), Dahlan Iskan. "Crisis will make us become much more stronger," the CEO of Bakrieland added. If we use an analogy, learning to be an successful entrepreneur is the same as learning how to ride a bike.

According to Hiramsyah, there are 3 main assets to be an entrepreneur, they are being ready to fail, not being afraid dealing with risk, and courageous to learn. Being able to keep commitment is also one of important principals that must be grasped by entrepreneur. Personality also become a crucial factor in the success of business.  "Not thinking negatively, not easy to grumble, not getting spoilt, and being optimistic are important personalities an entrepreneur must have," Dahlan mentioned.

Being shrewd to see opportunity and chance are now  the success key. Ananda who was very brave in taking risk to build BlitzMegaplex cinema is one good example of smart entrepreneur in taking available chance.

"I was inspired and this makes me feel excited to start an action in developing entrepreneurship for Indonesia," said Randi Bachtiar (Mechanical Engineering 2008), one of the participants in the Grand Seminar interviewed by News Office.