Indonesian Startup Wins Award at ITU Telecom World 2017 in South Korea
Jakarta. Modalku, an Indonesian peer-to-peer lending marketplace, received the Global SME Excellence Award from the International Telecommunication Union in Busan, South Korea, on Thursday (28/09) for its success in providing innovative solutions to promote financial inclusion.
"Financial inclusion is one of the biggest issues in Indonesia and Southeast Asia," Modalku co-founder and chief operating officer Iwan Kurniawan said in a statement.
"With support from the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology and the ITU, we hope the use of digital [technology] can be implemented by Indonesian micro, small and medium enterprises to overcome inequality," Iwan said.
He said Modalku, which disrupted the lending industry by providing small enterprises with access to short-term, non-collateral loans, beat "hundreds" of other applicants from around the world.
Communications Minister Rudiantara and Telkom Indonesia, the country's largest telecommunications firm, also received awards.
Minister Rudiantara was awarded the Recognition of Excellence Certificate for his role in sending key messages on solving wealth disparities through digitally empowered small enterprises, while Telkom, through its tech-based health service Admedika, received an award for having come up with the most promising innovative solutions in e-health.
According to the ITU Telecom World website, the awards were open to all sponsors and exhibitors at the Sept. 25-28 event in Busan. Small enterprises that were not exhibitors or sponsors were allowed to enter the awards by paying an application fee.
The Recognition of Excellence Certificate on the other hand, is granted for the "best innovative exhibitor" at each national pavilion at this year's event.
The ITU is a specialized agency for information and communication technologies under the auspices of United Nations, tasked to drive innovation in the ICT sector among 193 member states and 700 private companies.
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