This measure aims to cease the middle-income trap, which is hindering Indonesia, and encourage the country to be more industry-oriented.
"If (the products are still limited to items like chips (only), I think it will be tough," he stated at a virtual event hosted from here on Tuesday.
It was disclosed that President Joko Widodo had directed the industrialization or downstreaming of mining products and plantation products.
Masduki opined that MSME players need to utilize or work on Indonesia's marine resources.
"Only 4 percent of large investors dabble in (the marine sector)," he said.
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For now, MSMEs which are still learning to make products, are said to be taking advantage of the domestic market, including government spending, as an effort to compete better against foreign-made products.
"So now (when) you create a product, the government will definitely buy it. Thus, there is an opportunity to continue to improve the quality of the product," Minister Masduki said.
However, he reminded MSME players to produce goods that are demanded by the market—either for the government or for public consumption.
In the future, MSMEs must be ready to compete with various foreign products, both in the domestic and foreign markets, he reminded.
Masduki said that they could not forever coddle, protect, and provide for MSMEs. Instead, the government must reinforce the capacity and quality of MSMEs so they can independently fight their foreign competitors.
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Translator: M Baqir I A, Mecca Yumna
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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