Indonesia Business Center (IBC) Melbourne didirikan pada tanggal 1 Januari 2012, pada saat Konsul bidang Ekonomi dijabat oleh Dewi Kuntarti dan Konsul Muda Ekonomi dijabat Maradona Runtukahu. KJRI Melbourne melalui Fungsi Ekonomi lebih tepatnya mengaktifkan kembali organisasi yang pernah ada, yaitu Indonesia Business Forum (IBF) Melbourne. Namanya dirubah menjadi Indonesia Business Centre(IBC). Pengusaha dan Pengacara Konfir Kabo menjadi Ketua IBC tahun 2012. Dipto Pratyaksa kemudian menjabat ketua dalam periode 2012-2014. Kini, pimpinan IBC (2014-2016) dipegang oleh Lydiawati.
Untuk apakah IBC didirikan? IBC berkeinginan untuk membantu menumbuhkan semangat wirausaha warga Indonesia yang tinggal di Australia. IBC telah dan akan terus membuat berbagai program untuk meningkatkan kemampuan, daya saing dan daya jual mereka. IBC terbuka untuk pengusaha baru dan lama, juga untuk calon pengusaha. IBC juga berkeinginan untuk dapat menciptakan pasar bagi para pengusaha Indonesia agar dapat meningkatkan pertumbuhan ekonomi baik di Indonesia maupun di Australia.
“Bersama IBC, saya ingin meningkatkan arus penyebaran informasi bisnis baik dari pemerintah Indonesia maupun Australia,” ujar Lydiawati. “Tentu kami juga ingin agar warga Indonesia yang berdomisili di Melbourne lebih mengenal IBC.”
Insinyur bidang Site Utility/Electrical Facility di GM Holden Victoria ini berharap agar IBC dapat memfasilitasi warga atau organisasi Indonesia yang sudah atau ingin berbisnis di Melbourne. “Ternyata pemerintah lokal di seputar Victoria memiliki skema dana bantuan untuk Usaha Kecil Menengah,” lanjutnya. “Kami sebarkan informasi ini, kami undang pejabat lokal yang berwenang, dan kami mengajak warga Indonesia untuk ikut menangkap peluang bagus semacam ini.”
IBC di bawah kepemimpinan Lydiawati memang tampak aktif membuat berbagai event yang mendorong peningkatan informasi bisnis, seperti: How to access Government’s support for Small Businesses and Entrepreneurs (22/10/’14), Successful Tender Submission for Your Business (19/11/’14), dan Small Business Panel and End of Year Luncheon (6/12/’14). Semangat ketua IBC baru itu mendapat dukungan penuh Konsul Ekonomi KJRI yang kini dijabat oleh Wita Purnamasari.
——————————————————————————————————————————————————————————–
The Indonesian Business Centre (IBC) was established on January 1, 2012, at the time Dewi Kuntarti was the Consul for Economic Affairs and Maradona Runtukahu was the chair for the Economic Consul. At the Indonesian Consulate in Melbourne Economic Affairs was rather reactivated to an organisation that had previously existed, namely the Indonesian Business Forum (IBF) Melbourne. Only the name was changed to the Indonesian Business Centre (IBC). Businessman and Lawyer Konfir Kabo became Chairman of the IBC in 2012. Dipto Pratyaksa later became chairman in the period between 2012-2014. Lydiawati currently holds the leadership of the IBC (2014-2016).
For what was the IBC established? The IBC wanted to help foster the entrepreneurial enthusiasm for Indonesians living in Australia. IBC has been and will continue to create a variety of programs to improve competition and marketability. IBC is open to new and old entrepreneurs as well as prospective entrepreneurs. IBC also wants to create a market for Indonesian businesses in order to promote economic growth in Indonesia and in Australia.
“In cooperation with IBC, I want to increase the flow of business information from both the Indonesian and Australian governments,” said Lydiawati. “Of course we also want Indonesian citizens who live in Melbourne to be more familiar with IBC.”
An engineer at the Site Utility/Electrical Facility at GM Holden’s Victoria she hopes that IBC can facilitate Indonesian organisations or citizens who are already doing or want to do business in Melbourne. “It turns out that local governments around Victoria have a scheme for Small and Medium Enterprises” she said. “We distribute this information, we invite local authorities, and we invite Indonesian citizens to grab an opportunity of this kind.”
IBC under the leadership of Lydiawati are indeed active in creating a variety of events that encourage an increase in business information, such as How to access Government’s support for Small Businesses and Entrepreneurs (22/10/’14), Successful Tender Submission for Your Business (19/11/’14), and Small Business Panel and End of Year Luncheon (6/12/’14). The enthusiasm of the new IBC chairman has the full support of the Economic Consul at the Indonesian Consulate Wita Purnamasari.