WEST BANGKA -- PT Timah's commitment to strengthening the empowerment of Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) continues, one of which is through sustainable social innovation.
This program is designed to encourage economic growth in communities around the company's operational areas based on developing local potential.
Empowering MSMEs in the Social Innovation program carried out by PT Timah is developing Pempek Udang Ak Leho MSMEs in Belo Laut Village, West Bangka Regency.
Through the Processing and Smelting Division, PT Timah helps develop the Ak Leho Shrimp Pempek business, which consists of women's groups in Belo Laut Village.
Not only providing equipment assistance but also intensive assistance and training to MSME players. The aim is to create products that are more competitive and highly competitive in the market, both at local and national levels.
Ak Leho shrimp pempek is one of a group of MSMEs that processes food made from shrimp, such as shrimp pempek, shrimp paste, and crackers or kemplang. It is known that Belo Laut Village has shrimp potential which is obtained from fishermen who catch fish.
Pempek Udang UMKM initiator Ak Leho Mersi and his colleagues process shrimp into various food products such as Pempek Shrimp, shrimp paste, kemplang or crackers to improve the community's economy.
Many people are familiar with Pempek Ak Leho, and it is not uncommon for this product to become a souvenir when visiting West Bangka. Its distinctive and delicious taste can pamper customers' taste buds.
The more known Pempek Ak Leho is, the more demand it gets. However, they experienced problems fulfilling consumer orders due to limited containers to accommodate raw shrimp materials purchased from fishermen.
To increase the production of Pempek Ak Leho, PT Timah provided freezers which were used to store shrimp raw materials in larger quantities.
Apart from that, PT Timah also provided production equipment such as vacuums, vinegar bottles, vacuum plastic, and trays.
"Thank God, with the help of Freezers from PT Timah, we can now store shrimp in large quantities. With more shrimp stock, we can increase production and serve more orders from customers," he said.
According to Mersi, PT Timah has supported their shrimp pempek business for a long time. The reason is, that PT Timah often helps market Pempek Ak Leho products.
The forms of promotion carried out by PT Timah include being affiliated with them to market their products at various activities and often buying Pempek Ak Leho to entertain guests or take them to exhibitions at the national level.
In the future, Mersi hopes that PT Timah will continue to accompany him in running the Ak Leho business so that they can improve their group's economy.
"Hopefully PT Timah will continue to progress, develop and continue to care for MSMEs. We also hope that we can assist with licensing, such as halal certification and of course, continue to help us in terms of promotion," he hoped. (*)
