Tributing to the development of national entrepreneurship can be done anywhere and by anyone. Putera Sampoerna Foundation, in collaboration with the Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia for the United States, held a business plan competition themed “INDOPRENEUR USA” inviting Indonesian residing in the country to submit exciting ideas that could be developed back in Indonesia.

“Aside from its benefit to investors in Indonesia, the other objective of INDOPRENEUR USA is to open the opportunity for Indonesian U.S.-residents with fresh new ideas to realize their dream businesses in Indonesia, and at the same time bolster the development of local entrepreneurship and of the nation by creating jobs. Indonesians have a positive way of thinking and are capable of surpassing other nations as well as having a positive impact on Indonesia’s economic growth” said Indonesian Ambassador to the United States, Dino Pati Djalal.

Three USA INDOPRENEUR finalists were chosen based on the innovativeness, marketability and profitability of their businesses. The three finalists are: Danet Suryatama with his electric vehicle design and manufacture business called ElektrikCar LLC, a start-up business that designs, manufactures and markets Electric Vehicles (EVs) and Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle (FCEV); Jimmy Sujanto with his Hospitality Service and Wine Apreciation Education business, a service provider that provides training and education on wine, and Edwin Wibowo with his Embedded Real-Time Software Development Outsourcing Service business named "Blurb", a provider of software for real-time data collection.

In addition to cash prizes as start-up for their businesses, the three finalists will also receive support from the MEKAR team in developing their business plans as well as get the oppotunity to meet the angel investors.

The creativity and innovativeness of the Indonesians are essential factors in supporting the growth of entrepreneurship. Another important aspect of the competition is that investors in Indonesia can gain access to the entrepreneurs who are notably well-versed in what businesses is like in the United States. "Most importantly in the competition is that the business world must be able to create jobs to stimulate economic growth," said Charles Nagy, as CEO of MEKAR Entrepreneur Network.

Current data shows that small-to-medium enterprises contributes as much as 55.6% of total GDP and have employed 90.1 million of the population. And yet, the number of entrepreneurs accounts for only 0.18% of total population, compared to developed countries with their standard of 2%. Without a doubt, this shows that entrepreneurship is vital to economic growth.

Following the success of INDOPRENEUR USA, MEKAR Entrepreneur Network is planning to hold the same competition with Indonesian residing in other countries, such as Japan.