With those numbers, the IKM is surely part of the manufacturing industry, which in the second quarter of 2022, continues to have a major contribution to the gross domestic product (GDP)
Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Industry Ministry's Small, Medium, and Miscellaneous Industries' Director-General Reni Yanita said that with the number of Small and Medium Industries (IKM) reaching 4.4 million, the IKM sector is currently able to absorb 18.64 million workers.

"With those numbers, the IKM is surely part of the manufacturing industry, which in the second quarter of 2022, continues to have a major contribution to the gross domestic product (GDP)," Yanita stated at the Merdeka Barat Forum (FMB) titled "Upakarti Rising Together with IKM" here, Monday.

Hence, Yanita noted that the industry's contribution of 17.84 percent to the GDP included contributions from IKM.

Looking at the distribution of the 4.4 million IKM, almost 62.21 percent of them are on Java Island, with the largest area in Central Java, East Java, and West Java, Yanita stated.

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"We also have data on IKM centers compiled by the IKM industry office in Indonesia. There are 10,514 IKM centers dominated by creative IKM, reaching 57.21 percent, followed by food and beverage, with 38.23 percent, and the rest of them being crafts and fashion," she remarked.

She later noted that several IKM focusing on fashion were clothing-based and helped to promote local wisdom through batik and weaving, among others.

Yanita affirmed that amid difficult conditions, such as the COVID-19 pandemic and the threat of global recession, the IKM had succeeded in adapting to innovate, utilize existing resources, and create market needs.

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"We want this strength to continue to grow. The IKM must also be able to build branding, innovate, and read trends and needs of the global market," she stated.

This is since the IKM had four goals comprising how to be competitive, enter the export market, create wide employment opportunities, and become part of the supply chain in strengthening the national industrial structure, she concluded.


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Translator: Sella Panduarsa G, Resinta S
Editor: Fardah Assegaf
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