Indonesian Former Minister of Finance Backs Agricultural Blockchain Data Exchange
The former Indonesian Minister of Finance Dr Chatib Basri has joined forces with HARA - a global and open blockchain-based data exchange platform - that has launched a social impact project to improve the lives of farmers around the globe.
The project is an initiative of the established big data company, Dattabot, one of the biggest names on the Indonesian blockchain scene. The company is on a mission to promote the potential of blockchain technology and creating relationships with the government of Indonesia and other parties is proving to be fruitful.
The first time a former minister has endorsed a blockchain project from Indonesia, Dr Chatib Basri, has joined the HARA team as an advisor which endorses the calibre of the team and the project.
Dr Basri said:
” The HARA blockchain will help farmers in the Indonesian agriculture sector increase their productivity, cut the transaction costs and increase their income. I am honoured to be part of this adventure as an advisor for HARA”
In July, HARA became the first blockchain project to be invited by the Indonesian Central Bank (BI) to discuss the introduction of blockchain technology into the agriculture sector.
The first meeting was a success which led to another meeting being arranged to discuss a potential collaboration between the two parties.
As part of the company’s education initiative, HARA organised an informative event in partnership with Cardano’s Emurgo in which both companies shared how they plan to use blockchain technology to tackle real problems.
Later, General Electric Indonesia invited HARA to discuss blockchain and their project in a private educational session.
HARA was also prominent during the Korea Blockchain Week, where Chief Executive Officer Regi Wahyu presented the project at the Blockchain for Good Society event. As a result, the company was dubbed “ICO of the Month” by Asian Economy TV.
ICO stands for Initial Coin Offering – an unregulated method of raising funds for a new cryptocurrency venture which is used by start-ups to bypass the rigorous and regulated capital-raising process required by venture capitalists or banks.
Founded by serial entrepreneurs, Regi Wahyu and Imron Zuhri, co-founders of Dattabot, Indonesia’s leading big data analytics company, HARA is based in Singapore and Jakarta and is backed by a strong team of experts, investors, and advisors from multiple sectors globally.
HARA has been helping thousands of Indonesian smallholder farmers and supply chain to improve access to information, market, and financing since 2015. Its mission is to create a thriving agriculture economy with data as agriculture’s new commodity allowing smallholder farmers and thousands of agriculture stakeholders to make better farming and economic decisions.
HARA has already reached around 3,000 farmers in 41 remote villages and plans to attract 2 million Indonesian farmers by expanding its operations across the whole of Indonesia by 2020.
The company is also planning to expand to other developing countries on the equator and has begun negotiations with potential partners in Thailand, Vietnam, Bangladesh, Kenya, Uganda, Mexico, and Peru.
Over the last few weeks, the company announced partnerships with BNI, the fourth largest bank in Indonesia, and the African Business Institute (ABI), in preparation for its expansion to Uganda later this year.
HARA’s mission to empower billions of people around the globe appears overly ambitious at first glance, but on closer inspection, it does not seem that their mission is too far out of reach.
The company is certainly making progress in creating a name for itself and highlighting the benefits of blockchain technology in fighting poverty. Plus, its new collaboration with the government can only help the project to gather momentum.
Image Source: https://haratoken.io/
By Joy Lewis.
