Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Ministry of Co-operatives and Small and Medium Enterprises' Deputy for SMEs Hanung Harimba Rachman has expressed hope that this year's Proud of Indonesian-Made National Movement (Gernas BBI) would attract members of the Indonesian diaspora.

"The Gernas BBI is also expected to encourage the export of MSME products with the involvement of the Foreign Affairs Ministry and the Trade Ministry," he said in a statement released in Jakarta on Sunday.

Rachman informed that this year's Gernas BBI event would officially be held in Batam City, Riau Islands Province, but its campaign period was made effective from February to April.

The ministry functions as a steering committee while the provincial administration plays a role of key opinion leader or brand ambassador for the Gernas BBI programme, he continued.

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The movement would involve relevant stakeholders, including Bank Indonesia, Financial Services Authority (OJK), the provincial authority, regional institutions, state-owned banks, marketplaces, and local product developers, he added.

Rachman expounded that to declare whether this year's Gernas BBI program is successful, several indicators are applied. They are the number of introduced MSMEs to digital platforms, total transaction value recorded during the campaign period, entrepreneur partnerships, and optimisation of the MSMEs capital lending programme.

The optimisation of Government Goods and Services Procurement Agency's (LKPP) electronic procurement and e-catalogue systems, daily campaigns, utilisation of national QRIS system, and enhancement of digital literacy among MSMEs would also be considered as indicators for determining the programme's progress, he added.

The deputy expressed hope that as a strategic free-trade zone, Batam could serve as an example for trade activities and other strategic events held in Singapore.

"We expect relevant stakeholders to follow up our effort," he said, adding that the Gernas BBI in Riau Islands could also become a sustainable national movement to promote MSMEs to both domestic and global markets.

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Translator: M Baqir Idrus A, Nabil Ihsan
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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