Jakarta (ANTARA) - Some 40,473 micro and small enterprises making 763,385 products have been included in the e-catalog of the National Public Procurement Agency (LKPP), Cooperatives and Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) Minister Teten Masduki has informed.

Meanwhile, the total number of products featured in the e-catalog has reached 2.3 million.

"This is extraordinary progress this year, which is due to the facilities provided by the LKPP," he said in an official statement issued here on Wednesday.

Masduki emphasized that his ministry has continued to make efforts to encourage micro, small, and medium enterprise (MSME) players to register their products in the e-catalog.

"In this case, the Ministry of Cooperatives and SMEs' position as a supplier," he added.

One of the efforts made to boost interest has been the sending of WhatsApp and email blasts to more than 600 thousand micro and small enterprises on the procedure for entering the e-catalog.

In addition, the ministry has also carried out dissemination, coaching clinics for ministries, agencies, and regional governments across the country, and held business matching.

"We encourage cooperatives and MSMEs to enter the supply chain of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and large businesses in collaboration with the Ministry of Industry, the Ministry of SOEs, and the Ministry of Investment," he said.

According to him, so far, the value of transactions in the SOEs Digital Market (PaDi) has reached Rp22 trillion, involving around 17,200 MSMEs.

Currently, MSMEs that have entered industrial supply chains are only around 7 percent.

"We will continue to encourage SOEs and large businesses to share their work with MSMEs," the minister remarked.

Earlier, Minister of National Development Planning, Suharso Monoarfa, stated that the government is aiming to include two million MSMEs in the LKPP's e-catalog in 2023.

With the achievement of the target, the LKPP would become a kind of e-commerce or market workshop for central and regional governments for the procurement of goods and services, Monoarfa added.

In addition, the government is intensifying efforts to encourage MSMEs to use digital marketing, including by joining the LKPP's e-catalog.

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Translator: Sinta Ambarwati, Raka Adji
Editor: Azis Kurmala
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