"Money is not the only factor hampering the development of the UMKM, and yet money can act as a factor that decides the survival of the UMKMs," Muliaman said in a written statement here on Monday.
Speaking at a function on the ASEAN Small Medium Enterprise (SME) Partnership 2015 at Allium Hotel, Tangerang (Banten), Muliaman said funding was one of the problems that the UMKM often faced. This is actually a global matter.
He said the UMKMs often complained of difficulty in obtaining credits and financing, including access to financial institutions. The UMKM market is largely not related to products but to licensing, guidance and so forth.
Regarding the concern about the UMKMs weaknesses in management, capacity, capability and access to financing that made it difficult for them to develop, Muliaman stressed that the UMKM needed to be supported with wider financial access.
"Now, we are preparing regulations for the UMKM in Indonesia. We hope to complete the process by early next year. We can invite any UMKM but they have to be accompanied by an underwriter and must be registered in the capital market," he said.
Indonesia, with its 250 million population, accounts for about 40 percent of the ASEAN market. ASEAN population collectively accounts for 600 million. Such big numbers will enable it to have financial access.
"We want certainty that integration will create prosperity for the ASEAN countries. Prosperity is the ultimate goal of the ASEAN people. The integration is a means towards creating prosperity," Muliaman said.
Basically, ASEAN members depend on their respective UMKMs. The issue becomes relevant with the integration of UMKMs in the ASEAN region. Many financing programs have been carried out but not all of them were successful.
"The UMKM can face economic turmoil since these are more vulnerable because of smaller capital or risk taking ability?
Therefore, the development of the UMKM in ASEAN needs to be accelerated. Efforts to increase their competitiveness and to allow better financial and funding access need to be expedited. Easy and cheap financial access can be also supported with subsidy and low interest rates," he said.(*)
Editor: Heru Purwanto
Copyright © ANTARA 2015
