Deputy Minister of Villages, Development of Disadvantaged Regions and Transmigration Budi Arie Setiadi (far left) with Telkom Commissioner Rizal Mallarangeng (far right) and Telkom Director of Enterprise & Business Service Edi Witjara (center) witnessed the signing of the agreement on the provision of Platform Agree Suite services between PT Telkom Indonesia (Persero) Tbk (Telkom) and PT Mitra BUMDes Nusantara (MBN) by Telkom Executive Vice President of Business Service Division Syaifudin (second from left) and President Director of MBN Wiyoto (second from right) in Jakarta, Wednesday (24/3).

Deputy Minister of Villages, Development of Disadvantaged Regions and Transmigration Budi Arie Setiadi (second from left) with Telkom Commissioner Rizal Mallarangeng (far right), Telkom Enterprise & Business Service Director Edi Witjara (far left), Telkom Business Service Division Executive Vice President Syaifudin (middle) and MBN President Director Wiyoto (second from right) posed for a photo after the signing of agreement on the Provision of Platform Agree Suite Services between PT Telkom Indonesia (Persero) Tbk (Telkom) and PT Mitra BUMDes Nusantara (MBN) in Jakarta, Wednesday (24/3).

Jakarta, 25 March 2021 – PT Telkom Indonesia (Persero) Tbk (Telkom) and PT Mitra BUMDes Nusantara (MBN) signed a cooperation contract on the Provision of Platform Agree Suite Services, as one of the strategic milestones to ensure national food security. Telkom Executive Vice President of Business Service Division, Syaifudin and the President Director of MBN signed the contract on Wednesday (24/3) in Jakarta, witnessed by Deputy Minister of Villages, Development of Disadvantaged Regions and Transmigration Budi Arie Setiadi, Commissioners of Telkom Rizal Mallarangeng and Chandra Arie Setiawan and Telkom Enterprise & Business Service Director Edi Witjara. 

Telkom Enterprise & Business Service Director Edi Witjara said in his remarks that Telkom continues to support MSMEs and always facilitates them to go online and go global. At early stages of its implementation, Telkom provided free support until the MSMEs developed and met certain criteria. In the agricultural sector, Telkom is committed to the same support in realizing digitalization to ensure national food security.

“Today is an important moment for Telkom and MBN to jointly participate in supporting Indonesia for food self-sufficiency, by implementing Agree as an enabler platform, which is expected to help validate farmers and the cultivation process per planting season to improve farmers' welfare," Edi said.

Echoing Edi, Telkom Commissioner Rizal Mallarangeng said in his speech that Telkom is always available to assist MSMEs, especially in a strategic sector such as agriculture. “In accordance with the President’s directive, Indonesia must become a developed country in 2045 with $S12,000 GDP per capita. Therefore, farmers must be productive, not full of mechanization but full of digitalization. The agricultural sector is a major sector in Indonesia with 37 million people working directly in the agricultural sector, not to mention those who work indirectly in the agriculture ecosystem. The welfare of farmers is one of the keys for Indonesia to become a developed country in 2045.”

Deputy Minister of Villages, Development of Disadvantaged Regions and Transmigration Budi Arie Setiadi said, “We must prepare for economic digitalization. I welcome the implementation of Agree, and for its immediate execution and realization. It would be difficult in the early stages, and there would be many challenges and improvements. The Agree platform with Mitra BUMDes Nusantara are expected to reduce the gap between urban and rural regions. According to GDP data, the urban economy is 86% of the GDP while the remaining 14% is the village economy, which is quite concerning. In order for Indonesia to progress, the village must also progress. It is a belief that if villages develop by triple, Indonesia will be more advanced.”

“Village residents must prosper, we should not allow for the agricultural produce to increase, while the farmers remain poor. Our main goal is the welfare of farmers. Rich farmers, quality products,” Deputy Minister of Villages, Budi Arie Setiadi said.

Agree is an agribusiness support application that features partnerships with agricultural companies, for capitalization and in sales. Agree also has cultivation features such as cultivation methods, weather and price info. It is not applicable for agricultural ecosystems, Agree is also applicable for fisheries and animal husbandry as it also features partnership services, capitalization, and marketplaces for fisheries and animal husbandry.