UNS — Three students from the Faculty of Economics and Business (FEB) Universitas Sebelas Maret (UNS) Surakarta won the favorite winners title in the student/ general public category at the MSMEs Financing Book Review Competition, written by the Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs, Airlangga Hartarto. The three students are Yasir Ahmad Azumardi Azra, who won Favorite Champion I, Sagita Wahyu Dewanti Champion Favorite III and Fahrur Rozie, Favorite Champion V.
The book entitled “Pembiayaan UMKM” (MSMEs Financing) was launched in 2021 and discussed the strategic role of MSMEs in the Indonesian economy, their resilience in facing various crises in Indonesia, and the challenges they face in accessing financing, especially through banking institutions to obtain additional capital.
Registration for the MSMEs Financing Book Review Competition was open from April 17 to May 31 2023, and successfully attracted a total of 229 participants. The competition was divided into two categories: category 1 for teachers/lecturers and category 2 for students/general public.
The online competition was organized by the Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia and the winners were announced on 21 June 2023. The award ceremony was held on June 27 2023.
The judging process for the book review competition took place from 1 to 9 June 2023, with Iskandar Simorangkir, an expert team member of the Coordinating Minister for the Economic Affair, serving as the Chief Judge. The judging panel also included Ferry Irawan, Acting Deputy for Macroeconomics and Financial Coordination at the Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs; Eko B. Supriyanto, the Editor-in-Chief of InfoBank Magazine; Nining Soesilo Indroyono, Advisor to the PEBS Faculty of Economics and Business, Universitas Indonesia (UI); and Y. Tomi Aryanto, the Director of Tempo.co (PT Info Media Digital).
After the competition, Yasir Ahmad Azumardi Azra mentioned that the main challenge was managing time between writing the book review and other tasks. The deadline for submission and other assignments coincided, making it difficult to allocate sufficient time for the review.
“I have never read that book before. So, I had to read it first, using a screening technique to efficiently manage my reading time. Consequently, it took me about a week to prepare the review before the submission deadline,” Yasir said.
Meanwhile, Sagita Wahyu Dewanti mentioned that writing a book review was quite challenging because she had to read the entire book before composing the review. It was not just about reading but also carefully analyzing the book’s structure to identify its strengths and weaknesses. Though it was time consuming, she managed to complete the review in three days.
As for Fahrur Rozie, he initially lacked interest in participating in the competition, but decided to give it a try in the end.
“Coincidentally, I have the book ‘Pembiayaan UMKM’ by Airlangga Hartanto. Eventually I started writing the review at 8:00 p.m. on the last day of the submission deadline,” Fahrur said.
The three FEB students expressed their gratitude for winning the favorite champion title with over 200 participants. Humas UNS