Supporting Lake Toba Tourism, Governor of Sumut Appreciates 5.4 Billion Capital Assistance from Pertamina
Parapat, September 6, 2020 - PT Pertamina (Persero) through the Marketing Operation Region (MOR) I signed the Pertamina Partnership Program Loan Agreement for MSMEs at the Lake Toba Super Tourism Destination worth IDR 5.4 billion to 60 MSMEs in the area around Lake Toba.
The event was attended online by the Governor of North Sumatra, Edy Rahmayadi, Assistant Deputy for Environmental Social Responsibility at the Ministry of SOEs, Agus Suharyono, and Corporate Secretary of PT Pertamina (Persero), Tajudin Noor.
The Deputy Regent of North Tapanuli, Sarlandy Hutabarat, Assistant Deputy for Access to Capital for Tourism and Creative Economy of the Coordinating Ministry for Maritime Affairs and Investment, Suparman Sirait, and General Manager of Pertamina MOR I, Gema Iriandus Pahalawan, are present to symbolically signed the loan agreement between the Deputy Head of North Tapanuli and representatives of C&C Bakery Shop MSMEs, from Karo Regency, North Sumatra.
Through long-distance, the Governor of North Sumatra, Edy Rahmayadi, gave his support to the Coordinating Ministry for Maritime Affairs and Investment who chose Lake Toba as one of the developed tourist destinations. "North Sumatra hopes that with this program, more and more people will know and visit Lake Toba. We are also grateful to Pertamina for providing soft loans to MSMEs in North Sumatra, especially in the Lake Toba DPSP area," he added.
The Deputy Regent of North Tapanuli, Sarlandy Hutabarat, expressed his gratitude to PT Pertamina (Persero) for willingly helping to build and develop MSMEs around Lake Toba.
"We are ready to support developments carried out by Pertamina, one of which is the signing of the partnership program agreement. With the existence of soft loans from Pertamina for MSMEs, it is hoped that they can develop their businesses so that they are ready when there are visits from tourists," said Sarlandy.
Assistant Deputy for Access to Capital for Tourism and Creative Economy, Suparman Sirait, on behalf of the Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment, revealed that the government is currently preparing all the needs to support and develop tourism activities in Lake Toba and supporting infrastructure.
"Our appreciation goes to Pertamina for taking steps to help MSMEs through the Partnership Program, both at Lake Toba and other Super Priority Destinations," said Suparman.
In line with this program, Agus Suharyono, Assistant Deputy for Environmental Social Responsibility at the Ministry of SOEs, also reminded that this business capital loan is not a grant so that there are still obligations to be carried out by MSMEs. "SOEs have an important role in developing small businesses, including supporting the tourism sector. It is hoped that in the future, this program can be followed by other SOEs," he added.
The Pertamina Partnership Program itself is aimed at increasing the ability of small businesses of Pertamina's fostered partners to become resilient and more independent. It is also hoped that Pertamina's fostered partners will have a positive impact on improving the welfare of the community.
MSME players who are fostered partners will get easy and inexpensive financing facilities. The distribution of Partnership Program Loan Funds is also provided with a value of up to IDR 200 million and administrative services of 3 percent per year.
Corporate Secretary of PT Pertamina (Persero), Tajudin Noor, explained that Pertamina always supports government programs. The hope is that by helping the MSMEs around Lake Toba, they can develop their businesses so that the economies can move.
"Even in the Covid-19 pandemic situation, it is not an obstacle for us to help MSMEs develop and progress. The hope is that these MSMEs will become Pertamina's fostered partners to develop their business and boost Lake Toba tourism," he concluded.**