The saying that little by little becomes a hill turns out to be true in the story of 46-year-old Nurchaeti. This former Indonesian Migrant Worker (PMI) managed to establish a laundry company and become a food distributor thanks to the financial literacy she applied while working abroad.

Sharing her story in front of thousands of prospective migrant workers, Nurchaeti revealed that she was forced to work abroad because she was in debt.

Back then, in 2010, she made the tough choice with the consequence of leaving behind two children, aged 6 months and 3 years respectively.

For one year, Nurchaeti worked in Malaysia, while for the next 3 years, she worked in Singapore. While working abroad, Nuchaeti admitted that she often resisted the urge to shop outside of her needs, and diligently saved the proceeds from her work abroad.

Back in Indonesia, Nurchaeti did not rest on her laurels. With the savings from her work that she entrusted to her late mother, Nurchaeti set up her first kilo laundry business on February 6, 2014, and grew the business slowly.

Effort does not betray results, the business grew and created jobs. Not only was she able to pay off a large amount of debt, Nurchaeti has now managed to widen her business portfolio to food and beverage producers and distributors.

With the trademarks NN Laundry, J.Pas Resto, and TKI Shop from PT BFF Royanfood Indonesia, Nurchaeti's products can export to 15 countries in various continents such as Asia, Europe and the United Arab Emirates.

"Alhamdulillah, we have taught more than 1,500 former PMIs to have their own businesses, in collaboration with one of the state-owned enterprises. Our products have been exported to 15 countries, empowering 200 workers. Our distributors are in Europe, Asia, and most recently Saudi Arabia," Nurchaeti said to thunderous applause.

The key thing that Nurchaeti feels is very important for PMIs to understand is discipline in dividing income for living expenses and savings, in addition to personal wants and recreational needs.

In her experience, Nurchaeti divides her savings into living expenses, cash savings, and gold savings at Pegadaian. She uses the remaining amount for other needs.

In addition to prioritization, Nurchaeti said that a trusted family member is a key factor so that the money earned from hard work does not go to waste.

For this reason, in addition to involving families in planning for the future, he invited PMI not to hesitate to provide practical education to families about the need for back up income and having an entrepreneurial mindset.

"I believe, there is a star inside each of us. Let's make our inner stars shine. Don't be afraid to struggle first, because there is a star inside us that will shine, for ourselves and for the future of our family," she concluded.

Pocket book

Nurchaeti's story exemplifies the importance of financial literacy in the lives of migrant workers as they manage their income earned abroad effectively and wisely to improve the financial well-being of themselves and their families.

The mandate echoed in a series of events to launch the Financial Literacy Handbook for Indonesian Migrant Workers and Families organized by the Ministry of Protection of Indonesian Migrant Workers (KP2MI), in collaboration with the Financial Services Authority (OJK) and Bank Indonesia in Jakarta, Monday (10/11/2025).

Minister for the Protection of Indonesian Migrant Workers/Head of BP2MI Mukhtarudin stated that the handbook, which was launched to coincide with Heroes' Day, is an offering from the state to foreign exchange fighters, as a guide for PMI to be wiser in using and managing their finances.

"Not infrequently, accounts belonging to PMI are used for fraud or other crimes that make them deal with the law in the placement country. Therefore, I have mandated the Director General of KP2MI Placement to make this activity massive in PMI pockets, such as West Java, Bali, and NTB, at least before the workers depart," said Mukhtarudin.

The former member of Commission VII of the House of Representatives of the Golkar faction stated that apart from the ignorance and lack of understanding of PMI regarding the financial services they are entitled to, the wrong perception that migrant workers have an above-average income is one of the gaps for criminals to drain the fruits of PMI's labor in the placement country.

Currently, KP2MI is drafting a grand design of an integrated migrant worker ecosystem, so that the management of migrants from upstream to downstream, including the financial management of PMI. Citing Bank Indonesia data, Mukhtarudin noted that of the IDR 253.9 trillion remittance flow in 2024 and IDR 136 trillion remittances until Q2 2025, around 70% was used for consumptive needs and debt payments.

"Financial literacy is important to realize the welfare of PMI and their families. Don't let them register as PMIs again after they retire, or worse, go home and become unemployed because their money has been used for extravagance," he said.

OJK Chief Executive of Financial Services Business Conduct Supervision, Education, and Consumer Protection Friderica Widyasari Dewi emphasized that the financial literacy of PMI, which contributes up to 1% of national GDP, is the responsibility of all parties, especially the banking sector that receives and distributes remittances.

Considering the large contribution of PMI remittances and the vulnerability to financial crime, OJK has designated PMI as one of 10 priority segments of financial service users who are entitled to intensive training, assistance, and education, especially in terms of personal data security and financial management.

"Every dollar you earn is earned with sweat and tears, so think 1,000 times before leaving. OJK is committed to continuing to increase the empowerment of PMI as a priority segment, and hopefully this handbook will be a useful guide for you in the placement country," said Friderica.

Must be comprehensive

Improving the financial literacy capacity of migrant workers is an issue that cannot be solved partially, but must be comprehensive. Not only does it ensure the safety of PMI when transacting in sending the fruits of their labor abroad, but also asset management that ensures the welfare of PMI and their families back home.

Gobel Group President Director Rachmat Gobel emphasized that the government needs to be proactive in improving PMI's financial literacy and wealth management in total. This means that the government should not only ensure the safety of migrant workers when transacting and sending their income into the country, but also that the fruits of their labor can be rotated.

"Comprehensive financial management also means helping PMI families to do business or invest. OJK can provide that counseling. The point is, don't just let it go. Through the KUR scheme or micro wealth management , don't let PMI look for money only for the short term, but also meet long-term needs," said Rachmat when contacted. SUARMonday (10/11/2025).

Responding to Rachmat Gobel's invitation, Head of Retail Productive Banking Division of Bank Negara Indonesia (BNI 46) Nyoman Astiawan stated that his party is ready to provide financial service support for PMI, starting from before placement, during work, to returning to the country through the PMI People's Business Credit (KUR), which has been launched since 2015.

In the pre-placement phase, Nyoman explained, BNI helps socialize financial management and tips to be more productive in the destination country. Through the KUR PMI scheme, which can be taken before PMI leaves for the placement country, BNI helps finance the needs ahead of departure, from health checks to complete documents, with low interest.

"With 8 branch offices abroad, BNI provides solutions for salary remittance transactions to Indonesia at no cost, with a percentage agreed upon by PMI. When the work contract will end, we also provide entrepreneurship training and consumer credit socialization before returning to Indonesia," said Nyoman.

As one of BNI's financial products, KUR PMI is a working capital credit to prospective workers and migrant workers to finance training and placement channeled through P3MI which has collaborated with BNI. With a maximum credit value of up to Rp100,000,000, KUR PMI has a repayment period of up to 3 years without collateral, with a 6% interest rate that decreases gradually.

Nyoman revealed, since its inception in 2015, BNI has disbursed Rp936.5 billion in credit to 50,022 debtors, with the largest number being PMI working in Japan. Over the past five years, there have been 4,668 PMIs in the land of the rising sun who have received KUR PMI distribution amounting to Rp122.09 billion.

"As of October 31, 2025, there have been 2,100 new debtors from Japan, with an outstanding balance of Rp37.3 billion and a Non-Performing Loan ratio of 0 percent. This shows that KUR PMI is very helpful, especially with easy requirements, namely only ownership of e-KTP, work contracts, and have never received KUR before," Nyoman explained.