Bandung, West Java (ANTARA) – The Governor of West Java, Mr. Ridwan Kamil, has urged the central government to prepare domestic trade data, especially regarding Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs).
“The central (government) needs to register various economic potentials of all provinces, especially with regard to MSMEs. This is necessary so that Indonesia no longer depends on imported products,” Governor Kamil noted during a speech at the commemoration of Friday, National MSME Day 2022 in Bandung City.
Governor Kamil said that amid the global economic turmoil, the national economy would suffer if it still relied on foreign products.
“The world is not doing well. In order not to get trapped by other countries, the key is to increase internal trade,” he said.
To this end, he called on the central government to register the potential of each province, especially with regard to MSMEs, with the aim of making each region aware of the products that can be sourced in the domestic market, so that they do not need to import.
“So when we need something, we know where the item is. There’s no need to buy it from China,” he said.
His administration has ensured that the cooperation of each province contributes significantly to the optimization of economic growth, especially the revitalization of MSMEs.
The Governor cited some countries as examples, all of which had been beaten due to the weakness of their MSME sector.
“The key is that our trade is not dependent on foreigners. If we can maximize it on our own, we are safe. Therefore, Minister (Teten Masduki), I need data. What Papua does it need, God willing, in West Java it is available,” he remarked.
Responding to Kamil’s appeal, the Minister of Cooperatives and SMEs, Teten Masduki, assured that the government is continuing its efforts to boost MSMEs, including registering the full potential of each region.
“We need cross-regional data. At the moment, we don’t have it yet. This year, we are targeting data from 14 million MSMEs. Therefore, distribution permits, halal certification and registration numbers businesses, (all of this) we must immediately (register), and we must (do it immediately),” Masduki replied.
He asserted that optimizing the national MSME sector would have a significant impact on economic growth.
“If 400 trillion rupees are spent on MSMEs, it can help register economic growth of 1.58% or (create) more than one million jobs, without any new investment,” he explained. .
He reiterated the government’s commitment to optimizing MSMEs. He also said his administration was aiming to improve them, both in terms of quantity and quality.
“We will strive to facilitate MSMEs, so that they can easily access capital. An integrated incubation approach to finance and markets is needed. It is no longer just about training,” Masduki explained.
The minister said he would further introduce digitalization in MSMEs as the potential value of the digital economy in 2030 would reach Rs 5.4 trillion.
“However, currently, imported products constitute more than 10% of e-commerce. Therefore, we must improve our production, so that this large digital market can bring benefits. In addition, the implementation of education, real estate, transport and health, is now technology driven, these are aspects of MSMEs that we need to strengthen,” he concluded.
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