Jakarta (ANTARA) - Trade Minister Zulkifli Hasan has urged local micro, small, and medium enterprise (MSME) players to develop their businesses with the help of digital platforms, saying the growth of MSMEs affects the progress of a country.

“Without the growth of MSMEs, it will be hard to become a developed country,” he said here on Tuesday.

According to the e-Conomy SEA 2022 report, the gross merchandise value (GMV) of Indonesia’s digital economy is projected to reach US$77 billion by the end of 2022.

By 2025, the value of the digital economy is projected to reach US$130 billion, with a 19-percent compound annual growth rate (CAGR), and by 2030, it is predicted to grow more than three-fold to around US220–360 billion.

The minister expressed the hope that Indonesia’s digital economy will improve even though a global recession is predicted next year.

He said that Indonesia must expand its penetration into new markets such as Africa, the Middle East, and South Asia.

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Indonesia has several bilateral trade cooperation agreements with nontraditional countries such as the Indonesia-Chile Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), Indonesia-Mozambique Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA), and Indonesia-Pakistan PTA.

Deputy IV of the Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs, Rudy Salahuddin, said that Indonesia still needs 9 million digital talents for the next 15 years.

According to him, it takes a long time to produce human resources. Thus, short-term and long-term strategies are needed for human resource development.

The short-term approach is being carried out through training with business actors, while the long-term approach is being carried out by changing the curriculum so that digital talents can emerge early on.

Earlier, Minister of Cooperatives and Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), Teten Masduki, had said that as many as 20.5 million MSMEs have so far entered the digital ecosystem.

The Indonesian government is targeting to get at least 30 million MSMEs to join the digital ecosystem by 2024.

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Translator: Nanien Yuniar, Raka Adji
Editor: Suharto
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