Tuesday 18 July 2023 The Department of Economics and Development Studies (IESP) Faculty of Economics and Business (FEB) Jenderal Soedirman University (Unsoed) held international scientific seminars and conferences with the theme “Creativity, Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Leadership for Sustainable Rural Development”. The name of this activity is the 2023 Midyear International Conference (MYIC) which is planned to become an annual routine agenda. At MYIC 2023, the IESP Department cooperates and collaborates with various parties including ASEAN, Asia Committee for Small Business (ACSB), MCorp, Ministry of Cooperatives and SMEs of the Republic of Indonesia, and the Association of Indonesian Economic Scholars (ISEI). In addition, several tertiary institutions supported this event by acting as co-hosts including: Sriwijawa University Palembang, Trilogy University, and La Tansa Mashiro University.

After the opening, the event was started by a report from the chairman of the MYIC 2023 committee, namely Dr. E. Suharno, SE., M.Sc. MYIC 2023 was officially opened by the Chancellor of Unsoed Prof. Dr. Ir. Akhmad Sodiq, M.Sc. agr. In his remarks, the Chancellor expressed his hope that MYIC, which was organized by the IESP FEB Unsoed Department, would become a concrete manifestation of academic contributions to the development of various rural economic potentials, which is in line with the vision of Jenderal Soedirman University. After the Chancellor’s remarks, Unsoed officially opened the MYIC 2023 event which was followed by a group photo session. The event was held in a hybrid manner (offline and online) with 54 offline participants who attended the auditorium on the 6th floor of the FEB Unsoed laboratory and 198 people who attended online via zoom meeting.

The first agenda was a seminar session delivered by five speakers from various institutions with their respective expertise. The seminar was moderated by one of the IESP Department lecturers, namely M. Farid Alfarisy, SE., M.Sc. it is divided into two sessions and runs interesting. The first session was delivered by three speakers namely: Hermawan Kartajaya from MCorp, Blesila A. Lantayona who is the Chair Person of ACCMSME, and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Siti Aznoor binti Ahmad from the University of North Malaysia. Hermawan Kartajaya delivered material related to the importance of collaboration based on creativity, innovation and leadership in entrepreneurship to improve business performance. More broadly, Hermawan Kartajaya said that business performance needs to be collaborated in a comprehensive manner between the government, business actors, and all elements of society. From MDG’s, SDG’s, to IDG’s (Inner Development Goals).

Meanwhile, the second guest speaker, Blesila A. Lantayona, conveyed the important role of ASEAN in supporting the ASIA economy in general. More specifically, Ms. Lantayona highlighted the role of MSMEs in the ASEAN region which have a very crucial role. MSMEs in the ASEAN region are proven to be able to contribute optimally to the economy of their people. Therefore, MSMEs in the ASEAN region need to continue to improve their capabilities, especially after the Covid-19 pandemic and welcoming a wider era of trade. The next resource person is Assoc. Prof. Dr. Siti Aznoor binti Ahmad conveyed the importance of social enterprises. Business is not just for profit alone, more than that business can be done with broader goals by paying attention to benefits for society.

The second session of the seminar was followed by presentation of material by two speakers. Prof. Indah Susilowati, Ph.D. from Diponegoro University delivered material related to the importance of leadership for resource sustainability, especially in Indonesia. SDG’s become a benchmark for how Indonesia must be able to manage resources and divide roles among various related parties. SDG’s has a shared philosophy of equality and prosperity with the headline “ Leave no one behind”, this is a challenge in the Indonesian context with its diversity. The last speaker was Judit Katonane Kovacs, Ph.D. from Debreceen University, Hungary. Ms. Kovacs delivered related material on the importance of innovation and adaptation for MSME actors, especially in rural areas. Shifts in consumption and business patterns demand rapid adaptation for business actors. The seminar session was closed with a discussion delivered by participants both offline and online.

At MYIC 2023, calls for book chapters and calls for papers were also held which were open to the general public for various writers at home and abroad. The committee managed to collect 33 book chapter manuscripts and were selected to become 23 selected titles after a review process was carried out by the reviewers. The 23 book chapter titles were written by various writers from 11 Indonesian higher education institutions and one university from Singapore. The summary of selected book chapters was presented by the Dean of the Faculty of Economics and Business Unsoed Prof. Wiwiek R. Adawiyah, M.Sc., Ph.D.

After the break, the event continued in a parallel session which was divided into thirteen rooms: consisting of 8 offline rooms and 5 online rooms. The thirteen rooms are to accommodate 133 papers that will be presented by each author. The one hundred and thirty three scientific papers were written by authors from various domestic and foreign universities. Based on the evaluation of the moderators in each room, three best presenters and one best paper were selected. The first, second and third best presenters were Ruby Faozan Qomaruzzaman, Rudiyanto and Rian Dwi Utami respectively. The three are entitled to get prizes of IDR 750.00, IDR 500,000 and IDR 250,000. While the best paper category was received by Firsty Ramadhona Amalia Lubis with the paper title: “ Sectoral Analysis of Carbon Emissions and Economic Factors: Dynamic Models ”. The author, who is a student of the Doctor of Economics Program at the Faculty of Economics and Business, Unsoed, is entitled to a prize of IDR 1,000,000. The results of the committee’s decision were announced by the Head of the IESP FEB Unsoed Department Dr. Lilis Siti Badriah, SE., M.Sc.

The MYIC Final Session 2023 was officially closed by the Deputy Dean for General Affairs and Finance Dr. Ratno Purnomo, SE., M.Sc. in his remarks he expressed his gratitude to various parties who had collaborated to organize this activity. The committee who have worked hard to prepare the activity, speakers for seminar sessions, contributors for book chapters and papers, partners who have collaborated such as MCorp, ACSB, Ministry of Cooperatives and SMEs of the Republic of Indonesia, ISEI Purwokerto, and partner universities who have collaborated and worked hand in hand for the success of this event. Hopefully MYIC 2023 will provide benefits to society in general, especially for regional economic development in rural areas.

See you at the Midyear International Conference next year! (by. Pahrul F.)