The Doctoral Program in Economics (PDIE), Faculty of Economics and Business (FEB), Universitas Sebelas Maret (UNS), held the 3rd International Seminar and Colloquium on Business Economics (ICBE), taking on the theme of “Rethinking Innovation and Research in Small and Medium Enterprises Under High Uncertainty,” October 4-5, 2021. The international seminar and colloquium was held in collaboration with four partner universities, namely, Universitas Garut, STIE Widya Gama Lumajang, Universitas Tidar, and Universitas Slamet Riyadi (UNISRI).

During the event attended by more than 100 participants and 43 presenters, The Director of PDIE FEB UNS, Prof. Rahmawati, expressed her gratitude to the partner universities for supporting the 3rd ICBE 2021. Prof. Rahma also wishes for the colloquium to help and facilitate PDIE students in their research article publication process, which becomes one of the graduation requirements. Furthermore, Prof. Rahma hopes that the colloquium can help and facilitate PDIE students in their research article publication process as one of the graduation requirements.

Meanwhile, Prof. Izza Mafruhah, the FEB UNS Vice Dean for Academic, Research, and Student Affairs, representing the Dean of the Faculty of Economics and Business, thanked the four speakers for attending the international colloquium.

“This event aims to improve the competency of the Doctoral program students to publish their research articles at national and international levels, as well as to improve the reputation of the PDIE UNS in the publication aspects,” said Prof. Izza.

The ICBE 2021 consists of two sessions: the plenary session, where the participants will listen to the material presentation and keynote speech from speakers, and parallel sessions, where the presenter participants will present their submitted research articles that have gone through the selection process.

This year ICBE 2021 invited four international speakers, namely, Prof. Indah Susilowati from Diponegoro University, Dr. Kwabena G. Boakye from Georgia Southern University, Prof. Budy Resosudarmo from the Australian National University, and Prof. Benny Tjahjono from Coventry University.

On the first day of the colloquium, the participants join the plenary session with two speakers, Prof. Indah Susilowati and Dr. Kwabena G. Boakye. In her keynote speech, Prof. Indah delivered material entitled ‘Rethinking Innovation and Research in Small and Medium Enterprises under High Uncertainty.’

Prof. Indah explained how the Covid-19 pandemic had affected economic conditions. For the MSME sector, there are several obstacles arise, such as decreased capital and customers, as well as a decrease in the goods’ price. However, Prof. Indah revealed that the Indonesian government has been quite proactive in economic recovery efforts.

“With collaboration and cooperation, we will be able to deal with this pandemic. Economic recovery will certainly take time to be applied successfully,” said Prof. Indah.

After the Keynote Speech, Dr. Kwabena G. Boakye presented material entitled ‘Small and Medium Enterprises from Crisis to Growth,’ where he states that the contribution of the MSME sector to economic conditions is quite significant.

“In this case, the government can support the existence of MSMEs through financial training, encouraging research progress, and provide sector-specific assistance,” he explained.

During the plenary session, participants were given the opportunity to submit questions interactively to the invited speaker. After the plenary session, participants are invited to join s specific parallel session according to their research interest.

Reporter: Aulia

Editor: Humas FEB