PORTALJABAR, BANDUNG CITY - The UDUNAN (Financial Support Effort) program awards enlivened the Connecti:City 2024 event. Taking place at Gedung Sate, Thursday, August 22, 2024, the three best works that had gone through a series of curation and assessment stages were announced.

The three are Nurdinda Rahayu, Julanita Linasari, and Dian Annisa. They are considered very innovative in producing creative economy products in the application, craft, and culinary sub-sectors.

Representing the West Java Provincial Government, Head of the Tourism and Culture Office Benny Bachtiar appreciated the commitment and creativity of the participants. With the UDUNAN program, it is hoped that it can motivate the community to take part in the development of the creative economy in West Java.

"This motivation is not limited to desire alone, but implementation and unlimited creativity. Creativity and innovation are very possible with the conditions in our environment," said the Head of the West Java Tourism and Culture Office.

"We need to realize, what does West Java not have? Its natural resources are extraordinary, mountains, jungles, oceans, beaches, and its human resources are also extraordinary. The leading universities are in West Java such as ITB, UNPAD, then the private Parahyangan and so on. So we have to look around to be able to utilize it through activities or various creative works and products," he added.

UDUNAN itself is a program that facilitates the creative economy sector of West Java in accessing financing or funding for business development. This program was initiated by the West Java Disparbud and the West Java Creative Economy and Innovation Committee (KREASI) in 2020.

This year, UDUNAN reaches a wider scale by involving the Creative Economy Committee from outside West Java Province as Co-Host. This is expected to be a benchmark for other provinces to provide mutual support to creative economy actors in forming a larger network.

"The point is, we are ready to help provide facilities to the community so that they can carry out economic activities for their future lives," said the Head of the West Java Tourism and Culture Office.

The UDUNAN 2024 program was attended by 293 brands from 65 regencies/cities from West Java Province and East Java Province. After going through the curation stage, 40 finalists were selected consisting of 15 culinary sub-sector brands, 12 craft sub-sectors, 9 fashion sub-sectors, 3 film sub-sectors, and 1 application sub-sector.

In addition, UDUNAN 2024 also involves seven partners to become mentors for 40 finalists. The seven are Bank BJB, BBF, ASK Law Office, akseleraksi.id, JagoUMKM, DHL, and Seruni. In addition, there are Lestari, Invest.id, and West Java Investment Hub as investor hubs.

The following is a list of winners of the 2024 UDUNAN (Financial Support Effort) program awards:

1st Place: Nurdinda Rahayu (Pointtrash Indonesia, Application, Sukabumi City)
2nd Place: Julanita Linasari (Autumn Flower, Craft, East Java Province)
3rd Place: Dian Annisa (Chocoletters, Culinary, Bogor Regency)