The Food Technology Study Program of the Sumatra Institute of Technology (PSTP ITERA), in cooperation with the Regional Executive Board of the Indonesian Employers Association (APINDO), conducted a socialization of the UMKM Merdeka program on Tuesday, 20 September 2022. The socialization, held at the Auditorium of the General Lecture Building (GKU), introduced the UMKM Merdeka program, a mentoring program for MSMEs in Bandar Lampung that students can undertake for one semester.
At this event, the objectives of the UMKM Merdeka Program were explained, namely to improve MSMEs in terms of product development, financial management, resource management, marketing, and branding. In this program, students selected through a screening process will receive training for 2 weeks and then carry out practice in the business world. Students will work in groups and be guided by business practitioner mentors from APINDO Lampung and supervising lecturers from PSTP ITERA. Regular monitoring and evaluation are also conducted to track the progress of the MSMEs mentored by the students. The UMKM Merdeka activity will later be structured so that it can be recognized as equivalent to 20 credits or as a final project scheme for students of the ITERA Food Technology Study Program.
Amalia Wahyuningtyas, Coordinator of the ITERA Food Technology Study Program, stated in her remarks that this program provides a good opportunity for students to learn to become entrepreneurs and is in line with the vision and mission of the ITERA Food Technology Study Program, which is to turn students into Technopreneurs. “APINDO Lampung is also very pleased with the enthusiasm of the students attending the UMKM Merdeka program socialization and hopes that this program can become a momentum for Lampung MSMEs to grow and for students to become resilient,” said Ary Meizari Alfian, Chairman of DPP APINDO Lampung.
After the UMKM Merdeka socialization for students, DPP APINDO Lampung held an audience with the Rector of ITERA, Prof. Dr. I Nyoman Pugeg Aryantha. In the future, APINDO plans to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for cooperation in education, research, and community service. The UMKM Merdeka activity, to be carried out in the odd semester of the 2022/2023 academic year, is the initial form of the realization of this cooperation between APINDO and ITERA. (ILM-LP)
