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Ladies and gentlemen,
This Tuesday morning President University again held the International Conference on Family Business and Entrepreneurship or we usually call it ICFBE. This is an annual event that we started in 2017, and continues every year. If in the first three years we held the conference offline, in 2020, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, we did it online. For this year, our conference will be held on a hybrid basis.
At ICFBE 2021, we are collaborating with Dhyana Pura University or Undhira, Bali. For that, I take this opportunity to express my gratitude and highest appreciation to Dr. I Gusti Bagus Rai Utama, SE, M.MA, MA, as the Rector of Undhira, along with Dr. Ni Made Diana Erfiani, SS, M. Hum and Dr. Drs. R. Tri Priyono Budi Santoso, MM, both Vice Rector, and all other Undhira leaders for their willingness to collaborate with President University.
In addition, I would also like to express my highest gratitude and appreciation to the Indonesia Strategic Management Society or ISMS which has been our partner for several times in several ICFBE events. Also, including ICFBE 2021.
For this year, ICFBE chose the theme On the Path to Recovery: Leadership, Resilience and Creativity. We deliberately chose this theme, because we are well aware that currently many companies, including family business, are still struggling to recover after more than 1,5 years of being hit by the Covid-19 pandemic. Here, leadership, resilience and creativity play a very important role.
Ladies and gentlemen,
In many countries around the world, including Indonesia, family business plays a very important role in the economy of the country. A study conducted by McKinsey (2014) states that 80% of the Gross Domestic Product of many countries actually comes from family companies.
I'll still be citing McKinsey's data. Apparently, of all companies in the world, 60% are owned by families. These companies play an important role in the economy, as on average each family business generates US$1 billion in revenue (or around Rp. 14.5 trillion at current exchange rates).
Nowadays, startups are thriving. Indonesia wants to make the creative economy one of the engines to encourage economic recovery after the Covid-19 pandemic. Start-up businesses, especially those based on technology, are an important component of the creative economy in Indonesia. This is because of three things, namely the startup business is able to grow very quickly, the market is still very large, and it is efficient in terms of capital. This happens, among other things, because many startup businesses are supported by technology.
The existence of this startup business cannot be separated from the role of family business. Around 85% of startup companies get their first capital from their families. Now, as we can see, a number of startups have grown into Unicorns, and even Decacorns. Gojek, a startup founded by Nadiem Makarim and his friends in 2010, has now grown into a Decacorn or its value is already above US$10 billion. Nadiem Makarim, as we know, is now the Minister of Education and Culture, Research and Technology, Republic of Indonesia.
One more thing that I really impresses about Gojek is its contribution in creating jobs. When it started in 2010, Gojek only had 20 driver partners. Data at the end of 2020 states that Gojek already has 2 million partners in several countries in Southeast Asia, with the largest of course in Indonesia. Imagine how many.
In comparison, one of the largest conglomerates in Indonesia, the Astra Group, was founded by William Soeryadjaya in 1957. When I clicked on its website, currently the Astra Group has 187,300 employees. So, the number of Gojek partners is more than 10 times from Astra Group employees. So, I am not surprised that Teddy P. Rachmat, former CEO of Astra Group, is very impressed with Nadiem Makarim. The Astra Group, which is more than 60 years old and has hundreds of new companies, has created 187,300 jobs. Meanwhile, Gojek, which was founded by Nadiem Makarim ten years ago, has managed to create more than 2 million jobs!
What can we see from this story? It's a story about leadership, resilience and creativity. Just like other companies, Gojek is currently recovering from the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. I am optimistic that with their mastery of technology, Gojek and others unicorns and start-ups will not only recover quickly, but they will even be able to convert this pandemic into many new business opportunities. Some of us have felt it. During a pandemic, it is easier for us and helped to fulfill our daily needs. One of the goals of business is to make it easier for us to meet our needs, doesn’t it?
Ladies and gentlemen,
The story of Gojek and dozens of other unicorns in Indonesia, as well as thousands of startups struggling to advance to class, on the other hand shows how important the contribution of family businesses in Indonesia and the world is. Remember, 85% of startups get their initial capital from family businesses.
Today, through the ICFBE 2021 event, I hope that we can share knowledge and research on how family business are recovering from the blows of the Covid-19 pandemic. We must immediately move on from issues of succession, family vs professionals, or the phrase “the first generation establishes, the second generation raises, the third generation destroying”, even though these are still latent issues in family business.
That's my welcome speech. Enjoy the conference, and may we have fruitful event.
Thank you. Wabilahi taufik wal hidayah, wassalammualaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh.
Om santi santi santi om.
