Through AISEC, the Surakarta Youth Forum held a discussion forum to bridge the Surakarta youth, so they were able to make dialogue directly and discuss with the Surakarta City Government. The discussion with the theme "Youth as a Catalyst for the Economic Recovery of the New Era of Surakarta" was held on 19 to 20 June 2021 through the Zoom Meeting media.
On the first day the participants were divided into three groups. Each group would get one issue about Traditional Markets, UMKM, or Tourism to discuss. And on the second day, each group would present the results of their discussion.
Dr. Sutanto as Director of Academic and Student Affairs at Sebelas Maret University said that, local wisdom is a collective identity of Indonesia that cannot be replaced by anything. So in his work, he will continue to return to local wisdom that is owned by Indonesia.
During the pandemic, traditional markets were deserted as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic which resulted in the necessity of finding solutions to keep the economy running. Sutanto and his team invited the youth to find a solution by holding a barter system market (goods that were not sold could be exchanged for basic necessities that had been prepared by the Surakarta government). For example, bananas are exchanged for eggs, pineapples are exchanged for noodles. And the unsold bananas and pineapples will be sold through an online system (WhatsApp Bisnis). Evidently, the barter system could suppress inflation in Surakarta.
According to Mr. Tulus Widajat S.E., M. Si.as the head of BAPPEDA (Sub-National Level Development Planning Agency) Surakarta, stated that, the poverty rate in Surakarta was 9.03% and the unemployment rate was very high at 7.92%. And the level of tourism, trade & entertainment, mice, UKM, property are experiencing a slump, especially in the tourism sector. Government intervention in this case are as a connector between online platforms and business
actors, strengthening local supply fabric components, facilitating the provision of cheap credit for business actors, financing to encourage the financing side, updating databases, and increasing innovation or technology development.
“To respond tourism in Soloraya is by synchronizing tour packages. The mayor's target in these 5 years is Solo city tourist visits will increase. Not only preparation for action but supporting aspects such as transportation can run well, supporting infrastructure, good city situation, and others”, added Tulus.
Writer: Fadhila Usamah Al-Muflikha Kusuma (English’ 20)
Editor: Ayu Ukhti Muslimah
Source: Forum Muda Surakarta
Source: Fadhila Usamah Al-Muflikha Kusuma (English’ 20)
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