Citing the report on global equality index from Bloomberg, women's leadership in the business world continues to rise.
"Indonesia has more than 64 million MSMEs (Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises) that contribute to the gross domestic product by 60 percent," he noted during a virtual G20 Side Event on Tuesday.
"From this figure, 64 percent of MSMEs actors are women. For Indonesia, empowering MSMEs means also empowering women," he remarked.
Masduki believes that the improvement of women's role should be included within MSMEs-related policy mainstreaming, so that women no longer become secondary players but be the main drivers in the sustainability of SMEs.
Hence, Masduki's ministry collaborates with the Women20 and Business20 engagement group to improve women's equality and prosperity through gender-friendly policies.
"In addition, achieve economic inclusivity by supporting women-owned and managed MSMEs" the minister noted.
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Within the G20, three sub-themes brought up concerning SMEs are improving women's entrepreneurial role, active involvement of SMEs within the green economy, and expediting transformation of SMEs in the digital era.
During this side event, Masduki's ministry drew attention to the main topic on empowering women entrepreneurs through inclusive business, with the main agenda being solid and sustainable economic recovery.
Women entrepreneurs also require support from the government, he noted.
This support comes in the form of financing access, export support, development and training for employees, improving product quality, and special infrastructure support in villages.
The Ministry's Entrepreneurship Deputy Siti Azizah noted that the main topic for this side event is evaluating women's major role in mitigating the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and its effect on job creation.
In addition, women are deemed to play a role in sustainable economic growth.
"We expect that the current Indonesia G20 Presidency can realize investors' match making, support for minority business actors, both women and people with disabilities, mapping ecosystem, and product catalog by SMEs in the potential sector," she remarked.
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Translator: M Baqir Alatas, Fadhli Ruhman
Editor: Suharto
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