UMS Engages the Ministry of Trade to Strengthen Business Incubator Plans

Universitas Muhammadiyah Surakarta (UMS) is currently exploring the initiation of a business incubator for students. The incubator is expected to help foster a student entrepreneurship ecosystem at UMS.

During a visit to the Ministry of Trade on Wednesday (4/2/2026), UMS expressed its readiness to support entrepreneurship development programs for students through a business incubator.

Vice Rector V for Research, Innovation, Reputation, Impact, Partnerships, and International Affairs at UMS, Prof. Supriyono, S.T., M.T., Ph.D., explained that the business incubator represents UMS’s commitment to facilitating students who wish to start entrepreneurial ventures.

“Our big vision is, of course, to ignite the entrepreneurial spirit of UMS students. We want students not only to become job seekers but also job creators,” said Supriyono on Friday (6/2/2026).

Head of the Industry Partnership Development Subdivision at the Directorate of Reputation, Partnerships, and International Affairs, Sidiq Permono Nugroho, S.E., M.M., stated that the business incubator initiative aligns with the entrepreneurship development program run by the Ministry of Trade.

It is known that the Ministry of Trade already has a similar program, called Campuspreneur, which has been implemented at 18 universities across Indonesia. “So yesterday we offered that concept (a business incubator). It turns out the Ministry of Trade also has a similar program,” said Sidiq.

During the one-hour meeting, UMS presented its on-campus entrepreneurship ecosystem. UMS expressed its readiness to support the Campuspreneur program through the business incubator.

“We explained the entrepreneurship ecosystem at UMS, and thank God they were also interested in partnering with UMS in this program,” added Sidiq.

he atmosphere during the presentation of Campuspreneur at the Ministry of Trade Office in Jakarta, 4 February 2026. DRKUI UMS.

If this initiative is successful, the Ministry of Trade will provide a number of facilities to support the development of the entrepreneurship ecosystem at UMS. These facilities include business training, market testing, and marketing support.

So far, Sidiq explained, student works produced through the Student Creativity Program have only reached the prototype stage. In fact, these works have strong potential to be further developed into business products.

The UMS business incubator is expected to curate student works that are feasible for commercialization. The training to be provided is expected to increase the market value of student-developed products.

“Of course, the value will be different from products that already exist. We strongly hope they (the students) can fill market niches that have not yet been met by existing producers,” Sidiq emphasized.

Writer: Gede Arga Adrian

Editor: Fika Annisa' Sholihah

Translator: Farizal Luqman Majid