The New Social Economy in Indonesia: Features, Recent Development and Challenges

The participants of social economy and new social economy in Indonesia have contributed significantly to solve social issues and to achieve Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Hitherto, research about Indonesia’s social economy is still lacking, perhaps because not many people are familiar with this terminology. This research is important because it gives knowledge to all sectors to know each other’s strengths and the needs of other parties, so they can determine in which areas they can work together. This research finding shows that social enterprises have social capital but are in need for financial capital and intellectual capital to become professional. On the other hand, companies have much financial capital but need social capital to conduct CSR programmes that can successfully solve social issues. Thus, the activities of bridging these two sectors can be carried out by academic institutions which are the centre of intellectual capital. The new social economy is marked by the use of digital technology and participations of the private sector to achieve SDGs and create non-financial values. These practices are Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programmes, crowdsourcing, crowdfunding, fintech and impact investing. CSR exit strategy is by helping their beneficiaries to establish cooperative or credit union, which can result in self-reliant communities.