Given the increasing public demand for and understanding of product quality, manufacturers need to produce high-quality and competitive products so product standardization has become one aspect that could help business actors increase competitiveness and expand marketing access.
"Standardization can also improve protection for consumers, business actors, workers, and other communities, both from the aspects of safety, security, health, and preservation of environmental functions," the minister said at the 2022 Indonesian National Standards (SNI) Award, according to an official statement released on Wednesday.
For this reason, national quality infrastructure support is needed to increase the application of standards in Indonesia. Furthermore, Hartarto said that currently, the government is providing guidance to MSMEs regarding standardization and increasing competitiveness.
Standardization must continue to be encouraged because MSMEs have proven their ability to survive in the midst of a crisis and become a support for the national economy.
In addition, standardization can also make it easier for MSME products to participate in government procurement, which requires 40 percent of budget spending to be prioritized for MSME products.
Furthermore, Government Regulation Number 28 of 2021 concerning the implementation of the industrial sector also mandates that ministers, governors, heads of districts, or mayors provide non-fiscal facilities to MSMEs, such as financing in the context of mandatory SNI certification.
Hartarto also stressed the importance of collaboration and breakthrough facilitation programs from the central to the regional governments to encourage MSME products to meet Indonesian National Standards (SNI) considering that currently, the number of certified MSMEs is still below 10 percent of the 65 million MSME actors in Indonesia.
"As an appreciation for business actors who consistently apply the Indonesian National Standards (SNI) and have extraordinary and superior performance, the government, through BSN, also grants the SNI Award. Through this SNI Award, it is hoped that producers, consumers, and the general public will increasingly appreciate the quality aspect," he explained.
Earlier, Minister of Cooperatives and Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) Teten Masduki asked the private sector to participate in building ‘sharing factories’ to help micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) meet industrial standards.
With access to their industrial production technology, MSMEs will be able to boost the quality of products, become more competitive, and improve their potential to enter the global value chain, he explained.
"Sharing factories may also be initiated by the private sector. In order to use the service from the factory, of course, MSMEs must pay a competitive price," Masduki said at a webinar entitled “Strategies for Indonesian MSMEs to Increase Class and be Competitive at Global Level,” which was followed online from Jakarta.
He further said that his ministry will later provide assistance in obtaining distribution permits and halal certification for the MSME products.
The government is continuing to encourage improvement in the quality of MSME products, which, on average, is still poor since the production technology used by such enterprises is still limited and simple, the minister noted.
According to him, ‘sharing factories’ will be a solution for MSME owners to make products with better packaging, even on a small scale.
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Translator: Sanya D, Azis Kurmala
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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