PT Pupuk Indonesia (Persero) supports the development of startups company, especially the national agricultural sector from upstream to downstream. The company's support will be carried out through the signing of a Head of Agreement (HoA) with MDI Venture which is a subsidiary of PT Telkom Indonesia (Persero).

President Director of Pupuk Indonesia, Bakir Pasaman said that the signing of this collaboration was Pupuk Indonesia's support for digital economic growth in the country. "This cooperation with Pupuk Indonesia is a synergy between Pupuk Indonesia and MDI Ventures to comprehensively strengthen the agricultural sector and industry in Indonesia from upstream to downstream," said Bakir.

Through the signing of this collaboration, Bakir Pupuk Indonesia and MDI Ventures said they would also form an Agrifund which could later invest in digital companies or startups in the agricultural sector. This collaboration also opens opportunities for other sector BUMN companies to join as investors in Agrifund.

"Business cooperation between SOEs and startups through the BUMN Agrifund Venture Capital Company (PMV) is then expected to become a driving wheel for agriculture for Indonesia's food security," said Bakir.

The signing of the HoA between Pupuk Indonesia and MDI Ventures was held at ICE BSD, Banten. This activity is included in the BUMN Startup Day 2022 series of events which will be held for three days from 26-28 September 2022.

Minister of State-Owned Enterprises (BUMN), Erick Thohir said that Indonesia's digital economy will be the largest in Southeast Asia by 2030, with a value of around IDR 4,500 trillion or the equivalent of 40 percent of the total economy in Southeast Asia. It is hoped that this potential value can be optimized by BUMN companies.

Erick further explained that the majority of Indonesia's population is currently young under 35 years old or around 54 percent of the total population. Through Startup Day, Erick asked SOEs to build an ecosystem that can optimize the potential of the digital economy, which of course collaborates with startup players.

"Since the beginning BUMN has had a number of venture capitals, in which the BUMN venture capital has invested in 336 startups which, if you look at it now, many have started to become soonicorns or unicorns," said Erick Thohir.

Through the Startup Day event, Erick hopes that BUMN companies will collaborate with startup players in the country. "Alhamdulillah, today there were 150 exhibitors who attended, then there were 250 startups that had been adjusted to 12 BUMN clusters, then there were 22 BUMNs that were trying to see if there was a business matching potential," said Erick.

The digital economy has also proven to be one of the pillars of national economic resilience in the midst of a slowdown due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. The digital economy has an important role starting from providing digital solutions to daily needs, creating jobs, and encouraging Indonesia's technological achievements and competitiveness.