Indonesia Business Links (IBL) is a not-for-profit foundation and it was established in the wake of the Indonesian economic crisis. A major aim of the organization is to contribute towards the creation of sound and ethical business practices in the country. The organization is an affiliate of the Prince of Wales International Business Leaders Forum (known also as PW-IBLF or IBLF).
Since 1999, IBL has been actively promoting ethical business practices in Indonesia through its two major types of activities, namely, workshops on business ethics and capacity building of small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Initial funding for its activities was provided by its founding member companies as well as UNDP and DfID. Funding from the latter was arranged through PW-IBLF which is the international partner of IBL.
In response to the growing support from its members and international donors as well as increasing awareness and the felt need within the local business community for good corporate governance, IBL plans to expand its programme to include good corporate citizenship or known also as corporate social responsibility (CSR) issues. New programmes recently undertaken by IBL such as the youth entrepreneur development (YES) programme, and Partnership for Sustainable Development initiatives are examples of this transformation.
Major Sponsors
Founders of IBL are business leaders of Rio Tinto, Accenture and Ernst &Young. Corporate main sponsors now include global companies such as BP, B&M Consultant (HHP), Coca Cola, DHL, ERM Indonesia, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Shell, Standard Chartered, McKinsey, Unilever, as well as Indonesian companies including Bogasari Flour Mills, PPM Institute of Management, and Rajawali Group.
Major international donors have been supportive of the IBL. Initial sponsors include UNDP, Department for International Development (DfID) of UK and Ford Foundation.
PROGRAMS
Business Ethics
IBL’s initiatives to promote anti corruption have been enhances through its collaboration with the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), They have been extended beyond Jakarta with the support of the Centre for International Private Enterprise by working with our corporate partners. Since 1999 this initiatives has enlightened over 1500 business people, government official and Civil Society Organization leaders in the discussions about the importance of clean business practices. The workshop series are conducted in various cities across the full length of the archipelago from Aceh to Papua. The on going anti-corruption campaign has been further enhanced by TV and Radio broadcasting opportunities.
CSR for Better Life
Ford Foundation has been instrumentally strengthening IBL capacity in advocating CSR through: (1) production of series of books on CSR Best Practices Compilation Completed in 2008 in which these series comprising of book on CSR in Indonesian context and four thematic CSR areas books (2) improvement of web-based Geographical Information System (GIS) mapping on CSR programmes throughout Indonesia, which can be viewed at http://gis.ibl.or.id and (3) series of Learning Forum reaching out cities across Indonesia.
Young Entrepreneurs Start-up (YES)
The goal of YES programmes is to raise the level of awareness about entrepreneurship among Indonesian youth and to assist young people establish and sustain successful business. Between 2003-2007, the pilot programme was funded by Shell Companies in Indonesia (in collaboration with LiveWire International) in collaboration with McKinsey and Company, Standard Chartered Bank and Progressio. In line with Indonesia’s commitment to the Indonesia Youth Employment Network (IYEN), the programme’s activities include Entrepreneurship Awareness Workshops; Business Start-up competition and Enterprise development support services. With the support of International Finance Corporation (IFC), Accenture, McKinsey & Company and the Youth Business International (YBI).
Youth Economic Empowerement (YEE)
Indonesia Business Links (IBL) signed an agreement with Plan Indonesia on January 2011, to manage and implement the program known as “Youth Economic Empowerment “(YEE). The three-year program is aiming to increase the youth household economic security in rural districts of Grobogan, in Central Java through provision of the life skills, technical and vocational and entrepreneurship training and business mentoring, especially for women. The program was established with the basic strategy to work with a wide range of Plan partners to create opportunities for youth employment and entrepreneurship. The program will equip 1,000 youth (at least 80% female) aged 15-29 with the necessary life skills and employability skills that are important for them to get decent jobs or establish their own micro enterprises. IBL was selected as one of the program partners due to years of experience in managing youth entrepreneurship in Indonesia.
Youth Employment and Entrepreneurship Initiative (YEEI)
YEEI is part of a global network in the Education and Employment Alliance (EEA) implemented by the International Youth Foundation (IYF) and funded by USAID. This programme is implemented in six countries including Egypt, Morocco, India, Pakistan, Philippines and Indonesia. IBL has been implementing the programme since 2006 and helping over 5000 youth through eleven projects located along the north coast of Java and Bali. Those projects include live skills and employability, job creation and entrepreneurship.
