MUHAMMADIYAH.OR.ID, PURWOKERTO – The Chairman of Muhammadiyah Anwar Abbas mentioned the significant economic inequality in Indonesia, with a notable gap between the rich and the poor.
“The Ministry of Cooperatives and Small & Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) data reveals a striking disparity, with only 1.3 percent of businesses falling into the large and medium-sized category, while a substantial 98.7 percent are micro-enterprises with assets below 50 million,” said Anwar Abbas in the national meeting of the Muhammadiyah Council for Community Empowerment (MPM) at Auditorium of Universitas Muhammadiyah Purwokerto on Saturday (July 29).
Anwar Abbas drew a parallel between the existing economic inequality and a pyramid, urging genuine efforts to promote justice and reshape it into a diamond-shaped structure. In this vision, the middle class would become the majority, while the number of micro-enterprises would decrease.
Thus, the MPM is expected to play a role in overcoming the issue. “Solving the problem also requires all stakeholders such as the government, private sectors, and social society. All elements should take part in coping with the problem,” said Anwar Abbas.