"Indeed, we have pressed for quite a long time on how these domestic products can become 'kings' in our own country," Secretary General of the Ministry of Home Affairs Suhajar Diantoro stated here on Thursday.
Diantoro noted that several sectors, including the MSME sector, were negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
"In fact, MSMEs absorb a large number of workers. They can feed most of our people and partake in efforts to develop the people's economy," he pointed out.
According to the Ministry of Cooperatives and Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), Indonesia has 65 million MSMEs, or equivalent to 99.9 percent of the business population in the country. Those MSMEs absorb 97 percent of the workforce and contribute 61.7 percent to the GDP.
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Hence, various efforts have been made to encourage MSMEs to rise, so that production runs well and especially to secure a market to sell their products.
One of the efforts to introduce and connect MSME products to the market is through the 2022 Indonesia Maju Expo and Forum.
This year marks the second edition of the event that aims to provide support for MSME players to enable them to survive the economic contraction caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Such activities are expected to have an effect on market, production, and trade resilience that eventually lead to the realization of national resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Several parties that partook in the event included ministries and institutions at the central level, local governments, MSME players, national banks, private companies, and other small industry players.
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Translator: Boyke Ledy, Raka Adji
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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