The village is one of the smallest government units that has direct contact with the community. Therefore, the role of villages in helping to realize community prosperity and welfare is very significant. Through the Ministry of Villages, Development of Disadvantaged Regions, and Transmigration (Kemendes), village governments can play a role in improving the welfare of their citizens. Currently, Village-Owned Enterprises (BUMDes) have been established in many regions in Indonesia, but they are still not optimal. Harlina Sulistyorini, Director General of Economic Development and Investment in Villages, Disadvantaged Regions, and Transmigration delivered her speech in a practitioner lecture at the Faculty of Economics and Business UNY, on Wednesday (1/11).

The Dean of FEB Prof. Dr. Siswanto in his welcome speech said that FEB UNY has its focus on developing UKM (Small and Medium Enterprises). "The core of FEB UNY is the development of MSMEs and of course, most of them are in villages. There are not as many national and international companies as there are MSMEs. "The topic of SME development is also one of the focuses at the AFEBI meeting at FEB UNY this year," he explained.

The Vice Chancellor for Academic and Student Affairs of UNY, Prof. Dr. Siswantoyo, M. Kes., AIFO. officially opened the event. “UNY and the Ministry of Village are like brothers because the minister is also a UNY graduate. Many village people have gone to the city, but in the city, there are already many great people. Why don't we build villages? UNY has the “Kampung Emas” (Golden Village) or “UNY Bangun Desa" (UNY Build Villages) program which this year is taking place in Seyegan. "We help develop village income generation," he explained.

Harlina invited students to identify potentials in their villages that could be developed and become a source of welfare for their residents. Dwi, one of the students from Wonogiri said that the business in his village that has been handed down for generations is traditional herbal medicine, but now its glory is disappearing even before they were born. Innovation is certainly needed to revive and rebuild the reputation of traditional herbal medicine. Speech by the Vice Chancellor for Academic and Student Affairs

“There must be product empowerment through BUMDes. If necessary, villages should not only create their BUMDes but also establish BUMDes between villages," explained Harlina.

Harlina emphasized that BUMDes can engage in various types of businesses, including natural resource management, cultural management and preservation, processing and increasing added value based on local resources, microfinance services, internet management, acting as an intermediary for goods, services, and agencies, and more. However, it is important for BUMDes not to compete with community businesses, especially those at the individual and household scale, in order to avoid harming them. "BUMDes must be able to trigger the growth of community economic businesses," continued Harlina. (fdhl)