Now, it (the e-catalogue) has more than 600 thousand (MSMEs), and the target this year is 1 million and next year, 2 millionJakarta (ANTARA) - The government is aiming to include two million micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in the e-catalogue of the National Public Procurement Agency (LKPP) in 2023, which is nearly double the target for 2022.
Minister of National Development Planning and head of the National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas), Suharso Monoarfa, made the remarks at the Presidential Office here on Thursday.
“Now, it (the e-catalogue) has more than 600 thousand (MSMEs), and the target this year is 1 million and next year, 2 million," he said.
With the achievement of these targets, the LKPP would become a kind of e-commerce or market workshop for central and regional governments for the procurement of goods and services, he added.
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In addition, the government is also intensifying efforts to encourage MSMEs to launch digital marketing, including by joining the LKPP e-catalogue.
With the help of digital transformation, the government could also improve the quality of spending because the mechanism for the procurement of goods and services would be more transparent and minimize the risk of violations, he explained.
"So that there is no duplication of expenditures from state budget and regional budget,” the minister added.
He said that the encouragement for MSMEs to enter the LKPP e-catalogue is also a form of support for domestic products.
The LKPP e-catalogue will have a price differentiation scheme to protect MSMEs so that they do not lose out to big domestic entrepreneurs, he added.
"Do not let it be in the context of this procurement, then MSME entrepreneurs and cooperatives are left behind, then the winners just because of the price and the big companies," he said.
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President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) earlier expressed dissatisfaction over imported products still dominating central government procurement despite the fact that 842 products in the e-catalogue could be substituted with domestic products.
"I know many ministries, institutions, and regional governments do not want to buy domestic products for various reasons. However, there are 842 domestic products in the e-catalogue that can be purchased," he noted.
The head of state emphasized that central and regional government spending must take into account three important aspects: creating added value, generating domestic economic growth, and ensuring efficiency.
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Translator: Indra AP, Azis Kurmala
Editor: Fardah Assegaf
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