The Faculty of Economics and Business Universitas Airlangga held a national seminar with the Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia. The theme raised in the discussion this time was "Strengthening Support for MSMEs and the Employment Sector as a Lever for Economic Growth in 2021" because there are currently widespread rumors about the empowerment of MSMEs among the community. The event was moderated by Mrs. Thasya Pauline, SE., Plt. Head of External Sector, Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs. With the concept of offline and online events (via zoom), Prof. Dr. Mohammad Nasih, SE., MT, Ak., CMA, Chancellor Universitas Airlangga , gave a speech. Then Dr. (HC) Airlangga Hartato, MBT., MBA., Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs, delivered a virtual keynote speech, and Mr. Susiwijono, SE, ME, Secretary of the Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs gave a brief virtual introduction about the discussion that will be held.

Mr Susiwijono, SE, ME stated that there are four pillars that will be pursued to encourage the economy. The four pillars are household consumption, investment, government spending and exports. Then there is the Copyright Law which is expected to encourage the development of existing MSMEs. He also said that during this pandemic the Government maximized two things; handling COVID and economic recovery.

The resource persons present to discuss this seminar were Dr. Rudi Purwono, SE., MSE., Academician at the Faculty of Economics and Business Universitas Airlangga . As the first speaker, he conveyed the Portrait of Employment in the Midst of the COVID-19 Pandemic and its Recovery Strategy to Support Economic Growth. He said that the TPT (Open Unemployment Rate) in Indonesia in August 2020 experienced a fairly high increase of 1.84% compared to August 2019. The number of workers directly affected by COVID-19 according to BPS data reached 5.09 million people with the largest number in productive age group. In addition, MSMEs have a fairly large proportion of GDP so developing existing MSMEs is a very good way to restore the economy. The biggest problems experienced by MSMEs in business development are lack of capital and limited marketing. An entrepreneurial attitude needs to be raised to support the development of MSMEs so that their activities can increase. One of the Government's strategies in the field of higher education, the policy of developing the quality of human resources for university graduates, is also an effort to overcome this economic problem.

The second resource person is Dr. Ir. Mohammad Rudy Salahuddin, MEM., Deputy for Coordination of the Digital Economy, Employment and MSMEs of the Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs. He explained the impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Employment and Poverty. Some of the things the Government is doing to restore the economy is creating a Pre-Employment Card Program with survey results of 88.9% of Pre-Employment Card recipients saying that Pre-Employment Card training improves work skills. Then there is Law no. 11 of 2020 concerning Job Creation as explained by Sesmenko. He said that the benefits obtained from this law were encouraging job creation, making it easier to open new businesses, and supporting the eradication of corruption. Meanwhile, the general objective of the Job Creation Law itself is to create jobs and entrepreneurship through ease of doing business and guarantee workers' rights through worker protection.

The next speaker, which means the last one, is Mr. Andrio Himawan Aji, SH, MM., Secretary of the East Java Province Cooperative and SME Service. He conveyed that macroeconomic growth will decline in 2020. According to his statement, two challenges and opportunities that Indonesia will face are the development of digitalization in Indonesia and changes in global business patterns. He also mentioned East Java Provincial Government programs, such as Complete MSME Development, East Java K-SME Empowerment Program, and so on.

This seminar opened the eyes of the audience, both offline and online, that MSMEs are one of the drivers of the national economy that cannot be simply ignored. There is a need for active participation from many institutions such as education, especially universities, to help develop MSMEs in society as a form of helping to restore the economy.