Yogyakarta bamboo crafters get Shopee CSR boost

• Funds are specifically for local bamboo crafters of the Pringgadani Community in Yogyakarta
• First CSR programme and part of a US$7.5 million commitment to local entrepreneurs

SHOPEE Indonesia donates 50 million rupiah (US$3,750) through its corporate social responsibility (CSR) programme, ‘Shopee Untuk Negeri’, to support local entrepreneurs in Yogyakarta, specifically the bamboo crafters of the Pringgadani Community, organised by an NGO under the Rujak Center for Urban Studies.

“The ‘Shopee Untuk Negeri’ CSR programme is part of our 100 billion rupiah (US$7.5 million) commitment to give back to the Indonesian community. Our mission is not only to provide a smooth online shopping experience, but also to inspire people to have a better life.

“By collaborating with local entrepreneurs, we aim to help them tackle the main business challenges in terms of technology, operations, knowledge and finance, as well as help them expand their business,” said Shopee chief executive officer Chris Feng in a statement.

The Pringgadani Community is located in Muntuk Village in Yogyakarta which is known as the bamboo braid crafter village. Bamboo crafts bring in additional income for the villagers.

Although they have successfully marketed their products through word of mouth, the crafters are still lacking the knowledge and skills to build an online presence and engage with a wider audience.

“We recognised that young people in our village are moving into bigger cities to find better job opportunities. Given our status as a bamboo crafter village, we want to encourage them to stay by giving them new chances and Shopee can help us in educating them,” said Bumi Pemuda Rahayu project manager Solahudin.

Bumi Pemuda Rahayu was founded in 2012 and is located in Yogyakarta. It is in the early stages of development and was founded by the architect Marco Kusumawijaya and staff from the Jakarta-based Rujak Centre for Urban Studies, as well as from Arsitek Komunitas (ARKOM) Yogyakarta and Antariksa of Kunci Cultural Studies Centre.

“We see this local community as having the same vision and mission as Shopee to support the growth of local small and enterprises (SME). To be able to scale up their businesses, they have to go digital and we are supporting them,” Shopee Indonesia marketing manager Monica Vionna explains.

Additionally, Shopee will educate the crafters on how to market their business through attractive product photography and copywriting, as well as promoting it on a digital platform.

“We are excited to work together with Shopee to support the Pringgadani crafters. This collaboration is very much aligned with our mission to develop local communities and support them to have a better life.

“We hope that this programme will be very helpful for them to learn more about online businesses and teach them to be independent marketers. We hope more companies will follow Shopee’s path to help empower local communities and build a better life across the country,” said Rujak Center for Urban Studies co-founder and executive director Elisa Sutanudjaja.

This first CSR programme is part of Shopee’s 100 billion rupiah commitment which was established in 2016, and aims to support the development of local entrepreneurs in Indonesia.

Through this commitment, Shopee also conducts Shopee University roadshow programmes, which is currently running in 13 cities across Indonesia, attracting more than 900 participants to date; and Shopee Campus Competition attracting 1,000 participants from 84 universities this year.

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