FIELD VISIT  

Field Visit  

On the fourth day of the meeting, the experts visited the microfinance village unit in Cisarua, West Java, one of the best areas of microfinance management. The programme was organized in cooperation with Bank Rakyat Indonesia (BRI), a leading microcredit institution in Indonesia. The field visit was conducted as a comparative study, where the experts could learn a different type of microfinance activities, including best practices in Indonesia. The field visit was also aimed to give new experience to the experts on the application of different systems in daily operation.  

Prior to the field visit, the BRI officials presented a brief introduction on the development of BRI and its activities ranging from microcredit operation system, policy and strategy, as follows:  

- BRI Presentation -

 1. BRI Presentation 1

 2. BRI Presentation 2

- End of BRI Presentation -

During the field visit, the officials of BRI Unit Cisarua presented facts and figures of the BRI Unit as of December 2003 as follows:  

Loan outstanding (in billion Rupiah) : 3.076 (eq. US$ 370,000)  
Number of borrowers : 693 persons  
Deposit (in billion Rupiah) : 22.855 (eq. US$ 2,750,000)  
Number of depositor  : 24,600 persons  
Non Performing Loan : 2.4 %  
Collection rate  :  94,87 %  
Profit (in billion Rupiah)   : 1.890 (eq. US$ 227,000)  
Number of employee  : 6 persons  

The experts witnessed and observed the daily activity of such typical microfinance unit. Questions and comments directly addressed to the unit managers enriched the discussion and exchange of views among experts on how to successfully manage a microcredit activity. At the end of the field visit, the experts also visited a microcredit customer who has benefited from the microfinancing scheme in developing decorative-resin business.  

The project profile which was visited at its business site was reported as follows:

Mr. Andrue Atja, 45 years, is an old customer of BRI Unit Cisarua. His business is making handicraft (souvenirs) from kristal (local people usually mention crystal for any kind of souvenir made of glass, resin or plastic). He actually started his business in 1990. When he was willing to develop his business he came to BRI Unit Cisarua in 1997 to apply for loan. Since then, he has already borrowed the small credit for six times. His first loan was Rp 6,000,000 and now his loan size is Rp 25,000,000. He sells his products to Jakarta, but mainly based on special orders he received. Many big companies have become his clients. Kentucky Fried Chicken chained restaurant and Indofood (food company) are among others.

His hard work and creativity combined with opportunity to get additional capital make his business growing, and the business provides employment for his community. Now, he employs 15 - 25 people to fulfill the orders he received.

The field trip was followed by a visit to the ‘Safari Park’ at Cisarua region.