One of the government’s efforts to improve welfare in Papua is through the development of the economic activity. This effort targets Papuan youths as the main driving force of the economy. Read on to learn more about the youth creative economy businesses in Jayapura.
Youth Creative Economy Business in Jayapura
Based on data recorded by the central government, Papua has potential and talented young people. In fact, many of them are currently studying at domestic and foreign universities. One of Papua’s great talents is Billy Mambrasar, one of the pioneers of the Inspiring Young Papua Association.
Furthermore, these talented young Papuans who come from various districts in Papua have various entrepreneurs ranging from agriculture to even waste management. One example is the business venture of the youth of Nolokla Village in the East Sentani district, Jayapura.
These Nolokla youths have sago agribusiness and tilapia fish cages with 20 members in each business. They said the creativity hub motivates them to develop their business.
Another example is the bark-painting art enterprise from Asey village, East Sentani district. Serra Esterlin Ohee and her younger sister have been running this art business since 2020. Currently, the business has 4 additional members from the area around Sentani.
Government Efforts to Foster Youth Creative Economy Business in Jayapura
The following are some of the government’s efforts to foster the economy-creative industry among young Papuans.
1. Building PYCH
PYCH (Papua Youth Creative Hub) is a place where the idea emerged from the president’s meeting with the founders of Inspiring Young Papua in 2019.
The creativity center, which is located in the Abepura district, Jayapura, is a place for honing youth creativity and innovation in the fields of business young Papuans are interested in. The construction itself took nearly a year and spent a budget of around 98 billion rupiahs.
In addition, the government also hopes that with this development center, Papuan youths can learn technology that is growing rapidly. That way, they can further develop their business to compete and adapt according to the digitalization era.
Now, some of them are able to develop applications to facilitate business:
- Papua Talent Management application
- Village Facilitator
- Pacific Park Tour and Travel, and
- Containder (a waste bank management application).
2. Provide Material Assistance
In addition to providing a creativity center such as PYCH, the government also provides material assistance for medium enterprises run by Papuan youths.
Through the Office of Cooperatives MSMEs in the city of Jayapura, the government has allocated a budget of 3 billion rupiahs. The Jayapura MSME Office will later distribute the funds through cooperatives and MSMEs to purchase various business equipment.
Then, the business tools are distributed to the youth according to the business sector’s needs. For example, the government assists young people who run leather woodcraft businesses with sewing machines.
According to Ohee, one of the wood and leather art craftsmen, the sewing machine they received helped them to maximize the efficiency of processing time and production results.
3. Fostering Papuan Youths Business
Prior to providing equipment assistance, several MSME businesses run by Papuan youths also received coaching and training. One example is biofloc technology training for fish cage business people.
The business leader of the fish cage group, Frans Pouw, said that the biofloc technology training they received helped their business grow more. In fact, in the future, they will increase the cultivation of catfish and tilapia.
In conclusion, fostering youth creative economy businesses in Jayapura is a form of the government effort to improve the welfare of Papua. In the future, the governments will continue collaborating with young Papuan talents to develop all forms of productive, creative, and innovative business activities.
