Masduki deems this necessary, as the World Bank has warned to provide quality employment since 97 percent of the jobs in Indonesia are provided by micro-enterprises whose average wages are below the regional minimum wage.
"Partnerships are also important to encourage them (MSMEs) to develop their business capacity, so that jobs can be created," he stated during the "Strategies for Indonesian MSMEs to Level Up and Be Competitive at the Global Level" webinar followed online here on Thursday.
Masduki also encouraged the private sector to support the growth of MSMEs in each region, so that they can absorb jobs and reduce the number of micro and ultra-micro businesses.
"I also hope that Sinar Mas (one of the leading conglomerates in Indonesia) can play an active role as a partner of MSMEs and create medium-scale jobs by supporting aspects of financing, training, and innovation mentoring as well as being an aggregator and off-taker of MSME products," he affirmed.
He assessed that aggregators and off-takers in Indonesia's economic structure, which is dominated by micro-enterprises, are very important. The reason is that aggregators and off-takers can maintain market supply as well as logistics costs.
"The partnerships will increase the competitiveness of MSMEs by having better quality standards and a stronger value chain," he pointed out.
Related news: Minister prescribes factory sharing for improving MSME product quality
On the same occasion, Managing Director of Sinar Mas, Ferry Salman, stated that assisting MSMEs as well as becoming an off-taker is a good collaboration model to encourage MSMEs to level up.
"This is a collaboration model where business actors and the private sector in their respective operational areas can collaborate with MSMEs," he stated.
Sinar Mas has over 50 MSME partners, with more than 100 products that have been established since 2019.
Related news: SMEs Ministry prioritizes bolstering traditional clothes industries
Translator: Ade Irma, Raka Adji
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
Copyright © ANTARA 2022
