The Faculty of Business held the 1st Maranatha International Conference on Business and Economics with the theme "Digital Economic Transformation as a Catalyst for a Stronger Economic Recovery" on November 22, 2022. This theme fit in with the G-20 event which just took place on 15-16 November 2022 in Nusa Dua, Bali with the theme of "Recovery Together, Recovery Stronger".
The conditions of the COVID-19 pandemic over the last 3 years have forced global conditions to worsen, especially from an economic perspective where the economies in many countries will experience a decline in GDP of up to 2.96 billion USD and also an increase in unemployment reaching 214.21 million people in 2021. This shows a very large impact on business practices around the world, which should also be of concern to all of us, both academics and business practitioners, because other business-related factors such as rising loan interest rates also influence behavior and business performance.
In 2022, Indonesia hosted the G-20, a multilateral cooperation forum consisting of 19 countries and one economic area, the European Union, as well as representatives from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank. This year's G-20 carries the theme of “Recover Together, Recover Stronger”. Quoted from the website of the Coordinating Ministry for the Economy, through this theme, Indonesia invited the whole world to work together to achieve a stronger and more sustainable recovery.
The spirit of the Indonesian government in carrying out this economic recovery was what motivated the Faculty of Business Maranatha Christian University to organize the 1st Maranatha International Conference on Business and Economics (MIConBE) with the theme “Digital Economic Transformation as a Catalyst for a Stronger Economic Recovery”. Through this international conference, by holding seminars and call for papers, the faculty intended to invite various groups, students, academics, professionals, and business people to join hands in realizing economic recovery by carrying out digital economic transformation. There were 45 papers by 99 writers from 4 countries. At the end of the Call For Papers event, the best paper won among others: Yo Ching Law & Robin (Ming Chi University of Technology Taiwan), Misnanto & Julianto Agung Saputro (STIE YKPN Yogyakarta), and Velda & Maya (Maranatha Christian University Bandung).
International seminar activities chaired by Dr. Tan Kwang En, Ak., CA., Cert.DA invited Mr. Dr. H. Sandiaga Salahuddin Uno, BBA., MBA as the Minister of Tourism and Creative Industries of the Republic of Indonesia and also Mr. Edi Jaenuddin, S.E., M.Sc. Ak., CA as Chair of the Indonesian Institute of Accountants in the West Java area who was accompanied by Raden Shafira Destiana as MC. The seminar was opened by the Chancellor of Maranatha Christian University, Prof. Ir. Sri Widiyantoro, M.Sc. Ph.D., IPU, who expressed his deep gratitude for the willingness of the keynote speakers and speakers as well as the participants who attended this international seminar. Furthermore, Mr. Sandiaga Uno explained the importance of digital economic transformation as a catalyst for a stronger economic recovery which consists of 3 movements namely Gercep (Move Fast), Geber (Move Together), and Gaspol (Work on All Potentials Online). Meanwhile, Mr. Edi Jaenuddin also highlighted the topics taken at this seminar regarding the importance of digital economic transformation to strengthen the economy which is closely related to the era of the industrial revolution 4.0, society 5.0, machine learning, artificial intelligence, and the internet of things which the Covid-19 pandemic has changed. World conditions are moving towards digitalization to anticipate the situation caused by the virus which applies to all aspects of life in government, business, and society.
The event also featured speakers including Mr. Ekki Syamsulhakim as Senior Social Specialist from the World Bank, Mr. Do Hao Dung, PhD as Assistant Professor College Management & Design from Ming Chi University of Technology Taiwan, and Mr. Joel Christoph as Economic PhD Researcher and Flunder of Endeema France. As the first speaker accompanied by Dr. Tan Kwang En, Ak., CA., Cert.DA as moderator, Mr. Ekki Syamsulhakim presented his material entitled "The Future of Work Post Covid-19", in which he explained that technological developments, especially the industrial revolution 4.0, climate change, and also the pandemic has changed human work patterns which are marked by job automation, artificial intelligence, environmentally friendly technology and new forms of work in the form of work from home and e-work so that the challenge going forward is that many jobs will be replaced by automation or robots which must be anticipated by every individual in every country.
The next material presentation was from Mr. Do Hau Dung with the topic "Digital Economic Transformation" accompanied by Mr. Joni, Ph.D., Ak., CA., CPSAK. as event moderator. At the beginning of his presentation, Mr Do Hau Dung explained how the Covid-19 pandemic had forced every company to make changes or transform their business digitally. There are opportunities, challenges, and solutions with digital transformation carried out by companies, including digital transformation which is important for economic recovery due to Covid-19, the development of e-commerce business models that can reach international markets, and the need to increase employee competence in the field of digital technology.
The last session was delivered by Mr. Joel Christoph who was accompanied by Dr. Surya Setiawan, S.E., M.Sc as the moderator of the event, presenting his material entitled "Economic Digitalization and Economic Recovery". Mr. Joel opened his presentation regarding the decline in the value of GDP in many countries from 2021 to 2023 (source: IMF, October 2022) due to the influence of several factors, including the Covid-19 pandemic and also the Russia-Ukraine war which triggered inflation and the energy crisis in the United States and the European Union, and also the food crisis in the African Region. Related to the development of the world's internet today, based on the data obtained, there is a trend of a significant increase in the use of mobile devices such as mobile phones and tablets compared to other devices and this has an impact on changing the existing business model from the traditional economy to the digital economy. At the end of his presentation, Mr Joel emphasized the importance of digital transformation which creates greater value in social life than industry. Digitalization increases effectiveness and efficiency in various sectors, including health, education, business, government, energy, and logistics. The series of events were closed by awarding certificates to each speaker by the Dean of the Faculty of Business Maranatha Christian University, Mr. Tan Min Kuang, S.E., M.Sc., Ak., PhD.
