President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) awarded the 2015 Parama Karya to five SCORE participating small and medium-sized enterprises: UD Kreasi Lutvi from North Sumatra, UD Pelangi Indonesia from East Java, PT Mega Global Food Industry from East Java, PT Lambang Jaya from Lampung and CV Batik 16 from Semarang. The Parama Karya award is the highest productivity award for SMEs from the Government of Indonesia. The award ceremony was conducted at the State Palace, Jakarta, on 24 November 2015 and was given to a total of 22 SMEs.


SCORE, also known as Sustaining Competitive and Responsible Enterprise programme, is designed to enhance productivity and competitiveness of small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Launched in Indonesia in 2010 and initially led by the ILO, the Programme has now become a tripartite programme, implemented together by government, workers’ organizations and employers’ organizations.

In his keynote remarks, President Jokowi emphasized the urgency for companies to enhance their competitiveness and productivities. “This is the era of competition. The companies that are not competitive can no longer exist and cannot survive. With the upcoming ASEAN Economic Community (AEC), the competition is no longer among individuals, cities or provinces, but among countries,” he stated.


To be acknowledged as the award recipient, the selected SMEs had gone through basic assessments. They were judged by independent auditors and judges representing the Ministry of Manpower, employers’ associations, trade unions, academia and the National Productivity Council based on the following criteria: leadership, strategic planning, customer-oriented and market expansion, human resources and organizational competence development, data completeness, information and analysis, management process and business results.

“Parama Karya award is a symbol of acknowledgement to SMEs that have successfully implemented the concepts of quality and productivity. Improvements of quality and productivity increase the added values that, in turn, improve business expansion, employment opportunities and workers’ welfare. These will eventually contribute to the economic growth and national competitiveness,” said the Minister of Manpower, M. Hanif Dhakiri.

Noor Suryanti, owner and director of UD Pelangi Indonesia, a small-scale handicraft company in East Java, admitted that the SCORE programme has played an important role in improving her company’ productivity and in making it possible for her company to be awarded with the Parama Karya award. “After the implementation of SCORE programme, the working environment has changed. My employees are more motivated, and we have a better communication system that has improved the working performance, strengthened the cooperation and enhanced tasks distribution,” she said.

UD Pelangi Indonesia began to implement the SCORE programme in 2015 under the guidance of productivity instructors from the Provincial Productivity Center in East Java. In addition to the classroom trainings, the trainers also directly assisted UD Pelangi Indonesia through site visits. “We continue to make SCORE programme as our work culture,” Suryanti added.

Similarly, Karlonta Simarmata, SCORE instructor in Lampung, shared her experience assisting PT Lambang Jaya. “I have witnessed real changes that benefit both the management and employees. After the implementation of SCORE programme, the working environment is now clean, neat and organized. Sanitation and hygiene are improved and additional facility is added such as drinking water for employees.”

In addition, SCORE programme has also opened business networking opportunities among its participating SMEs. For example, the establishment of business networking between UD Pelangi Indonesia and PT Mega Global Food Industry. UD Pelangi Indonesia visited PT Mega Global to learn best practices and how to improve the business.