BANYUWANGI – Banyuwangi Regency was once again named as the Most Innovative Regency in Indonesia at the Indonesian Government Award (IGA) event organised by the Ministry of Home Affairs. With this achievement, Banyuwangi has become the most innovative regency for seven consecutive years.
The award was presented at the IGA 2024 Awarding Ceremony, which was opened by Deputy Minister of Home Affairs Ribka Haluk in Surabaya, Thursday (5/12/2024). The award was presented by the Head of the Ministry of Home Affairs’ Domestic Strategy Policy Agency (BKSDN) Yusharto Huntoyungo to Banyuwangi Regent Ipuk Fiestiandani.
“Alhamdulillah, Banyuwangi’s commitment to make various innovations to advance the region has received appreciation. We will continue to encourage various innovation programmes as a locomotive for regional development in the future,” said Ipuk.
In Banyuwangi, she added, the culture of innovation continues to be encouraged as it has proven to be the key in realising progress, improving the quality of public services, and creating adaptive and sustainable solutions in governance and development.
There are at least 220 innovations that Banyuwangi has implemented, one of which is an innovation programme to improve the economy of citizens, namely “Kanggo Riko”, which is one of the loci of this year’s IGA Award assessment.
Kanggo Riko is an economic strengthening programme for poor households. In this programme, recipients receive assistance worth IDR 2.5 million to meet their business needs. Kanggo Riko has benefitted 6,898 families. This year, 1,890 residents are targeted to become Kanggo Riko beneficiaries.
Due to the various innovations made, Ipuk continued, Banyuwangi has continuously managed to maintain progress in various development sectors. Among them, per capita income continues to increase, from IDR 53.87 million in 2022 to IDR 58,08 million in 2023.
Regional GRDP also increased, from IDR 93.28 trillion in 2022 to IDR 101.29 trillion in 2023. Meanwhile, the poverty rate fell from 7.34 per cent in 2022 to 6.54 per cent in 2023.
“These various positive achievements are the result of joint work, synergy, and collaboration of all development stakeholders and the people of Banyuwangi,” concluded Ipuk.
