Grab, Emtek and Bukalapak Unite in Strength to Guide Solo to Become a Smart City Through the Future Cities Program

The challenge of encouraging the growth of the MSME industry in the midst of a pandemic has become "homework" for many parties. As one of the sectors that has an essential role in the country's economic growth, the MSME industry needs to be well prepared to meet the challenges in the future. A strategic step that can be adapted is through digital transformation.

Even so, the MSME industry needs to be supported, as was recently done by 3 (three) major technology players who collaborated with each other to create thousands of "technology literate" MSMEs. The three entities are Grab, Bukalapak, and Emtek. After successfully launching the 'City of the Future' (Real Collaboration for the Future) accelerator program in the city of Kupang, now the initiative continues in the city of Solo with the target of digitizing more than 1.500 MSMEs, as well as making Solo a city labeled "Smart City". Like what?

Since its launch in the third quarter of 2021, the Future City initiative is an extensive accelerator program targeting 10.000 MSMEs, held in stages until the second quarter of 2022 in Kupang, Solo, Gowa, Malang, Pekanbaru. In the release we received, this acceleration program focuses on the priority of growing the MSME industry as a whole. It stated that the priorities in question were in the form of vaccination assistance programs, adoption of digital platforms, to empowering MSMEs through training and assistance for business development through digital technology. MSME businessmen are also prepared to be able to "onboard" their business in the ecosystem Grab and Bukalapak.

In his statement, Ridzki Kramadibrata as President of Grab Indonesia said that this program [City of the Future] is a collaboration with the Surakarta city government which aspires to make the economy of the city of Solo have optimal competitiveness thanks to technology.

"Grab Together with Emtek and Bukalapak, they are ready to work with the Surakarta Government to oversee Solo as a Smart City through the #KotaMasaDepan program. This program provides assistance and training so that MSMEs become more competitive and create new jobs. We hope that our efforts to help MSMEs, especially those in small cities, can help the government achieve its target of digitizing 30 million MSMEs in 2024, and accelerate efforts to restore the nation's economy," said Ridzki.

To facilitate this initiative, the Future City program presents a number of programs that can be utilized by more than 1.500 MSMEs to develop their businesses to the fullest. In addition to support in the form of business activation on the platform Grab and Bukalapak, the 54 selected MSME entrepreneurs will have the opportunity to take part in the accelerator program in managing the business mentored by Bukalapak and Grab. Not only that, the 3 best MSMEs will also receive support in the form of publication opportunities provided by the Emtek media network.

Future City Program

"EMTEK is committed to supporting the development of the MSME sector in Indonesia. Collaborate with Grab and Bukalapak, this program is expected to provide opportunities and competitiveness for local MSMEs in the digitalization era that is developing so fast. With the same determination to make the daily lives of Indonesian people better through technology, we believe we can revive the local economy which will later contribute to the Indonesian economy," said Sutanto Hartono Managing Director, PT Elang Mahkota Teknologi, Tbk.

Regarding activating the city of Solo to become a 'Smart City', the City of the Future program has also prepared a number of strategic agendas. The agenda in question is said to be implementing a number of plans such as launching the facility "GrabKitchen” which is located in Pasar Gede, and handed over 400 units of electric motorbikes to driver partners based in the city of Solo. GrabKitchen itself is a cloud kitchen facility that is able to utilize data, to identify and map gaps in customer demand by reaching more consumers through the platform GrabFood. This facility is later expected to be able to open maximum sales opportunities for culinary MSMEs.

The implementation of Smart City is believed to be able to provide a sustainable growth impact for the community. The impact, of course, is that the increase in economic terms is expected to be boosted by technological innovations that open access and opportunities for the entire community.

"We are very proud to be able to help the Surakarta city government to develop Solo Smart City by utilizing technology Grab inclusive through electric vehicles to reduce carbon emissions. Not only that, we also introduce GrabPasar Gede Kitchen to support the business progress of MSME actors in the culinary field in the city of Solo. This electric vehicle innovation and cloud kitchen concept is aligned with the mission GrabForGood which participates in regional development in Indonesia and uses technology to create a sustainable impact on society," added Ridzki.

At the same time, the Mayor of Solo, Gibran Rakabumi conveyed that comprehensive digitalization in the city of Solo for both the MSME industry and the Smart City initiation plan was expected to be able to answer the challenges of the business world and open the widest possible access for local products from the city of Solo to a wider market.

"I appreciate the initiative Grab, Emtek and Bukalapak in presenting the Future Cities program. The presence of this program is expected to improve the ability and quality of Solo MSME actors in utilizing technology to face current challenges. The acceleration of digitalization has also helped local governments in driving regional economic growth. I invite Solo MSME actors who are not yet part of the digital ecosystem, let's immediately take advantage of this facility so that together we can advance in introducing and marketing Solo local products," he concluded.

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