1,000 Small Businesses Receive Government-Backed Loans

RRI.CO.ID, Bali – The Indonesian government has distributed People’s Business Credit (KUR) to 1,000 micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in the creative economy as part of the MSME Creative Economy and Bali Province’s Leading Entrepreneurship Exchange.

The program aims to expand access to financing in the creative economy sector and boost the national entrepreneurship rate.

Coordinating Minister for Community Empowerment, Muhaimin Iskandar, said strengthening the MSME and creative economy ecosystem must be continuously expanded to serve as a model for other regions in Indonesia.

“We want the economic ecosystem that fosters MSMEs and the creative economy in Bali to continue to grow and become a model for various provinces in Indonesia,” Minister Muhaimin said on Wednesday, May 13, 2026.

The initiative also provides collaborative space for technology- and commodity-based business incubators to build a sustainable, adaptive business ecosystem aligned with industrial development.

Meanwhile, Minister of the Creative Economy and Head of the Creative Economy Agency, Teuku Riefky Harsya, emphasized that the creative economy plays a strategic role in job creation and community economic development.

He noted that KUR recipients in this program came from various creative economy subsectors, including culinary arts, fashion, crafts, fine arts, and performing arts.

“Currently, around 1,000 MSMEs and creative economy businesses are receiving People’s Business Credit. The largest subsectors are culinary, fashion, and crafts,” Minister Riefky said.

He explained that the mass KUR agreement is a collaboration between the Ministry of Creative Economy and the Ministry of MSMEs to strengthen financing for creative businesses in national priority areas.

Bali Province is one of the priority areas for creative economy development under the National Medium-Term Development Plan (RPJMN). Cross-sector collaboration is therefore needed to enhance the competitiveness of local businesses.

In this initiative, 239 creative economy businesses received KUR financing totaling IDR 37.99 billion, divided into super micro, micro, and small categories.

From January to May 11, 2026, the government recorded national KUR disbursement of IDR 102.8 trillion to approximately 1.6 million MSMEs.

In Bali, KUR disbursements reached IDR 4.1 trillion in 2026, with about 49,800 MSMEs receiving financing, including IDR 597 billion for the creative economy sector.

At the same event, Minister of MSMEs, Maman Abdurrahman, launched the Sapa UMKM application, which provides integrated services to MSMEs across Indonesia. (Misni Parjiati)