The Ministry of Agriculture (Kementan) together with PT Bank Negara Indonesia (Persero) Tbk or BNI launched the Taxi Program for Agricultural Equipment and Machinery (Alsintan) in Gresik, East Java, Monday (23/8/2022).
This collaboration was confirmed by the signing of a memorandum of understanding by the Director General of Agricultural Infrastructure and Facilities of the Ministry of Agriculture Ali Jamil and BNI Director of Institutional Relations Sis Apik Wijayanto.
The signing of the strategic cooperation was witnessed directly by President Joko Widodo (Jokowi), Minister of Agriculture (Mentan) Syahrul Yasin Limpo, and President Director of BNI Royke Tumilaar.
For information, the agricultural sector is entering a period of accelerated transformation with the aim of strengthening national food productivity and stability. Banking actors also play a role in carrying out a crucial intermediary function, particularly in disbursing investment credit and providing appropriate financial solutions for farmers.
Meanwhile, the Alsintan Taxi program is a model for managing the Alsintan service business with a rental system or the ownership of Alsintan through a banking credit scheme.
The Ministry of Agriculture and BNI agree on empowering farmer institutions through strengthening capital, relaxation of financing, and assistance.
The two institutions collaborate through the integration of partner and/or fostered data to facilitate the application for the People's Business Credit (KUR) for Alsintan Taxis.
The cooperation scheme in the Alsintan Taxi financing pattern can be processed using KUR with a maximum credit of up to Rp 500 million, and an interest of 6 percent per year with an additional 3 percent interest subsidy. The program is valid until December 31, 2022. The pattern of credit installment payments is also adjusted to the harvest season.
Jokowi is optimistic that the Alsintan Taxi Program will be more feasible with the help of the banking system, especially BNI. He believes that there will be many regions and villages that can afford to buy agricultural equipment to increase production in the agricultural sector.
"We are trying this (Alsintan Taxi program). If it is supported by bank interest that we subsidize, I think there will be many regions, villages and regencies whose farmers want to buy agricultural tools and machines," Jokowi said in a press release at Monday.
On the same occasion, Syahrul Yasin Limpo said that agriculture has entered an era of technological transformation so that the use of machine tools is increasingly prioritized for increasing productivity.
"We appreciate BNI being proactive in improving the performance of the national agriculture and food sector. Not only is BNI able to distribute KUR, but BNI has also provided productive loans to machine tools providers. Thus, BNI is able to create various banking solutions that are more suitable for this national primary sector, " he said.
Responding to this, Royke said that the position of the agricultural sector will become increasingly strategic in 2022. Moreover, global conditions have disrupted the food supply chain. In addition, the need for national consumption is now increasing.
The cooperation, according to him, is one of BNI's commitments as a development agent to support resilience as well as strengthen the food agriculture sector.
"We thank the government for the opportunity for BNI to play a more active role in accelerating the transformation of the agricultural sector. We believe the (Alsintan Taxi) program can help increase national food production," he said.
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