Malang, Jawa Timur (ANTARA) - Cooperatives and Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) Minister Teten Masduki has encouraged the creation of startup companies in the field of agriculture technology in the regions as they are considered to have promising potential.

Speaking at the Integrated Business Center Service (PLUT) for Cooperatives and Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (KUMKM) Summit here on Friday, he stressed that agriculture technology startups must be created in each region.

“I want startups, especially in the field of agritech, to exist in each region,” he said.

Masduki explained that with the emergence of startup companies in the agricultural technology sector, the government will provide support to potential investors, including potential buyers.

He expressed the hope that the emergence of startup companies in each region along with efforts to attract investors and potential would help lay a strong foundation for the micro, small, and medium enterprise (MSME) players involved.

He further said that the emergence of such startups is also expected to help increase Indonesia’s per capita income and make it a high-income country.

“To achieve this, we must carry out job transformation because 97 percent of our jobs are in the MSME sector and 96 percent of them are micro (enterprises),” he added.

To this end, he noted that Indonesia must create jobs that are of higher quality for the middle-class community, including by encouraging industrialization. The industries that must be created are those that are based on domestic raw materials.

“The intervention taken by the government is building production houses that can manage raw materials to supply the pharmaceutical industry, the food industry, and others,” he said.

He informed that Indonesia has potential in raw materials, such as aloe vera and various types of fish. He said he hoped that going forward, Indonesia’s industry sector would not only create jobs with cheap labor.

“Industrialization must not only provide cheap labor, but we must make our economy become a part of the supply chain," he added.

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