"Women are not only a complement but are the main players in the sustainability of the SME business in Indonesia," the minister noted virtually at the Women 20 (W20) event accessed here on Tuesday.
Masduki remarked that based on data, the number of women running their own businesses increased in 2021. Those women play a significant role in COVID-19 handling in the country.
According to the minister, in the last two years, 10 percent of women in Indonesia have started their business in the health sector. This figure is higher than the number of male entrepreneurs, who open businesses in the same sector.
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In addition, 62 percent of those women use their business as their main source of income. This means they were driven by economic needs in starting their businesses.
Masduki noted that based on data, over 64 million MSME players in Indonesia contributed 60 percent to the country's economy. Of the figure, most of those MSME players are women.
"Empowering SMEs means empowering women," he remarked.
The minister affirmed that the government will continue to strive to provide opportunities for SMEs in Indonesia to continue to grow and recover from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to Masduki, several steps are being readied, including increasing the role of women in entrepreneurship and the active involvement of SMEs in the green economy, as well as accelerating the process of digitizing Indonesian SMEs.
Batu City, East Java, hosted the Women 20 (W20) themed, "Recover Together, Equally," held on March 8-10, 2022. W20 was formed to emphasize the importance of women's participation, especially in global economic development.
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Translator: Vicki Febrianto, Raka Adji
Editor: Suharto
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