Bank Sumsel Babel Collaborates with Banyuasin Regency Government and CIFOR to Build Regional Economy

Bogor, 29 July 2022

Signing of the MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) between Bank Sumsel Babel and CIFOR (Center for International Forestry Research).

CIFOR (Center for International Forestry Research) is a non-profit research institution established as an intergovernmental organization and has 700 staff spread across 33 countries.

The purpose of this MoU is cooperation for the development of business models and community empowerment in the South Sumatra region.

The event was held at the CIFOR office, jl. Cifor, situ gede, city of Bogor and was attended directly by Dr. Robert Nasi (Director General of CIFOR), Prof. Dr. Herry Purnomo (Deputy Country Director of CIFOR-ICRAF Indonesia), H.Askolani Jasi, S.H, M.H, Regent of Kab. Banyuasin and his staff, Ir. Kosarudin, MM, Head of Bappedalitbang Banyuasin, President Director of Bank Sumsel Babel, Achmad Syamsudin, represented by Linda Hairani, Head of Retail, Consumer and MSME Division of Bank Sumsel Babel and Mr. Asraf Kurniawan, Head of Bank Sumsel Babel Pangkalan Balai Branch. Then also attended virtually Mrs. Heng Li Lang, Principal Senior Director of the Temasek Foundation and Dr. Myrna Asnawati Safitri, Deputy for Education, Socialization, Participation and Partnerships from the Peat and Mangrove Restoration Agency.

Bank Sumsel Babel warmly welcomes the signing of this MoU, one form of support from Bank Sumsel Babel in this MoU, which will carry out programs for regional economic development and community empowerment as well as supporting the implementation of a community-based business model for mangrove restoration in South Sumatra by continuing to pay attention to good corporate governance," said Linda Hairani, Head of the Retail, Consumer and MSME Division of Bank Sumsel Babel, while representing the President Director of Bank Sumsel Babel, Achmad Syamsudin, signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), together with the Director General of CIFOR, Robert Nasi.

In his speech, Prof. Dr. Herry Purnomo (Deputy Country Director of CIFOR-ICRAF Indonesia), said that one of the studies conducted by CIFOR was Action Research on the Development of Community-Based Business Models for Mangrove Restoration in Banyuasin Regency. The research locations focus on five villages in Banyuasin I District: Breech I, Breech II, Breech III, Breech IV and Breech Clans. The main objective of this research is to develop mangrove restoration and local business models, ecologically viable and beneficial for the community and contribute to existing programs such as BRGM Restoration, National Economic Recovery (PEN) and implementation of Green Development.
 Through action research activities, it is hoped that two main impacts are expected: the community will obtain sustainable income, the health and nutritional benefits of food from the conservation and use of mangroves and mangrove restoration will increase.

The research activities carried out by cifor have also received support from the Regent of Banyuasin, H.Askolani, SH, MH. In his speech, the Regent of Banyuasin said that issues related to mangroves in Banyuasin Regency were centered in two areas, namely the Sembilang National Park and the Tanjung Api-Api Special Economic Zone, previously known as the Sungsang area.
The Banyuasin district government hopes that the activities carried out by CIFOR are of course with the aim of increasing community empowerment, where with the formation of good mangroves, it can be used as a tourist attraction, fishery business development and others. It is hoped that the cooperation of all parties to jointly realize integrated development that has an impact on improving the living standards of the surrounding community in Banyuasin Regency and South Sumatra Province in general.