MSMEs are able to absorb 97 percent of the total workforce and raise 60.4 percent of the total investment value.
Jakarta (ANTARA) - Vice President Ma'ruf Amin has said he believes that micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) will play a crucial role in national economic development by contributing to the gross domestic product (GDP) and absorbing the workforce.

“MSMEs are able to absorb 97 percent of the total workforce and raise 60.4 percent of the total investment value," he said at the online commemoration of the 2021 National MSMEs Day on Thursday.

According to data from the Cooperatives and MSMEs Ministry, the contribution of small businesses to the GDP stands at 61.07 percent, he noted.

Therefore, the Vice President said he hoped that MSMEs would help drive economic recovery and succeed in boosting national economic growth to support the achievement of fair and equitable social welfare.

He also lauded the sustainability of the sector in the current difficult situation. "Amid the pandemic that has lasted almost 1.5 years, MSMEs have been increasingly integrated with other national economy sectors. Hence, we will keep empowering them," he said.

Meanwhile, Cooperatives and MSMEs Minister Teten Masduki noted that the pandemic is still posing challenges to business activities, although the economic growth rate has improved in the second quarter of 2021.

"We have experienced a positive economic growth in the second quarter of 2021, which reached 7.07 percent year on year. However, the enforcement of community activities restrictions has still hampered our business activities," he said.

Masduki also said he hoped that the commemoration could serve as an opportunity to push MSME transformation attempts for the future.

"We have to encourage the rise of Indonesian MSMEs to dominate and elevate our national economy while keep adapting amid the pandemic disruption," he remarked.

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Translator: Fransiska Ninditya, Uyu Liman
Editor: Sri Haryati
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