While other business sectors have run into losses, MSMEs have managed to survive and contribute to economic recovery efforts.
The government has demonstrated its commitment to assisting MSMEs through the National Economic Recovery Program, which seeks to help them survive and develop to face economic challenges and uncertainty.
In 2022, as much as Rp455.62 trillion has been allocated for the COVID-19 Handling and National Economic Recovery Program.
MSMEs have also been prioritized in the program's budget allocation as part of the push to promote economic recovery.
According to data from the Cooperatives and Small and Medium Enterprises Ministry, there are a total of 64.2 million MSME actors in Indonesia, who contribute 61.07 percent or Rp8,573.89 trillion to the gross domestic product (GDP).
MSMEs employ 97 percent of the total workforce and attract up to 60.42 percent of the total investment in Indonesia.
Of the 64.2 million MSME actors, as many as 64 percent are women.
Cooperatives and SMEs Minister, Teten Masduki, said that empowering MSMEs also means empowering women.
Women are no longer considered passive contributors to a household's economy for they are able to become the economic backbone of the family, he remarked.
He cited a Bloomberg report on the global equality index, which said that women's leadership in the business sector has continued to increase.
Masduki said that women's ever-increasing role needs to be encouraged by the mainstreaming of MSME-related policies.
These efforts are necessary to make women the main drivers of MSME sustainability, instead of being secondary or complementary actors.
Therefore, the ministry is collaborating with engagement groups such as Women20 and Business20 to improve gender equality and welfare through gender-friendly policies.
The collaboration is also being conducted as a means to achieve economic inclusion by supporting MSMEs owned and managed by women, he said.
Women entrepreneurs need support from the government in terms of access to finance, export support, development and training of employees, product quality improvement, and special infrastructure support in rural areas.
According to the chairwoman of Women-20 (W20), Hadriani Uli Silalahi, Indonesian women are playing a major role in small and medium enterprises (SMEs).
"In Indonesia, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) (generate up to) 67 percent of job (opportunities). Women play a very (extensive) role in creative work or (entrepreneurship)," Silalahi said.
Of all SMEs in Indonesia, 62 percent are owned by women at the micro scope.
This fact emphasizes that women as entrepreneurs need to be empowered. Thus, support for a very large percentage of women is necessary.
However, they are hindered by challenges such as lack of financial literacy, access to credit, and investment.
Women entrepreneurs also face issues related to public procurement, she said.
Silalahi then expressed her appreciation for the collaboration, which is geared toward creating more inclusive business practices.
It is expected that stakeholders will make a greater commitment to women entrepreneurs’ empowerment.
She asked everyone to emphasize recovery for achieving gender equality and women’s empowerment.
"Women and small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are one of the four priority issues which we discuss at the G20," she informed.
Women at the center of the economy
W20 delegate from Italy, Annamaria Tartaglia, said that the COVID-19 pandemic has offered a great opportunity to put women at the center of economic activity.
The pandemic has worsened the challenges for women as well as accentuated gender inequality.
"But the pandemic has also provided a great opportunity to place women at the center of our economic and societal activities," Tartaglia said.
There are three things that need to be done to empower women, she added. The first is encouraging women to delve into the center of economic activities, which will determine their future.
The second is the creation of an inclusive society and workplace culture, which can eliminate gender stereotypes.
The third is support for women in achieving leadership and business ownership, she said.
She recommended five policies for empowering women.
The first is putting gender equality at the heart of budgeting decisions by creating an inclusive and innovative economic model that works for women and focuses on achieving public welfare, she said.
The second is ensuring equal representation of women at all levels of decision-making, whether in public or private, national or global, political or economic bodies, by 2030, and implementing a multi-year plan to achieve this goal and monitoring progress annually.
The third is collecting, analyzing, and reporting all identified issues using gender-sensitive data.
The fourth is developing gender impact assessments, which do not leave anyone behind in the design, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of all legislative, political, strategic, and program initiatives, including post-pandemic reconstruction plans and climate change strategies.
The fifth is promoting education by investing in infrastructure to ensure women and girls have proper access to education from the pre-school to tertiary education levels.
Support also needs to be provided to women in technical and vocational training, digital skills, finance and entrepreneurship, and lifelong learning.
By continuing their education, women can get good job opportunities.
Improving women's entrepreneurship ability is important and needs to be encouraged.
It is so that women can manage MSMEs, which are at the heart of national economic growth.
Economic power and resilience can be built if women are economically empowered.
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Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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