Malang, East Java (ANTARA) - Cooperatives and Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) Minister Teten Masduki has asked Indonesian youngsters, especially university students, to strengthen the marketing of products made by local micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs).

After attending an interactive dialogue at Merdeka Malang University here on Wednesday, he said that the digital literacy of Indonesian youth is already very good. Thus, it needs to be optimized to strengthen the marketing of MSME products.

"The digital literacy of our youngsters is already very good. It is actually necessary to bring youngsters closer to MSME products so that they can become resellers," he expounded.

Masduki said that currently, there are around 21 million MSMEs that are already connected to digital markets. The government is targeting to help 30 million MSMEs enter digital markets by 2024.

According to the minister, efforts to reach the target are inseparable from the role of youngsters, who can develop new digital applications, especially those that can support the marketing of local MSME products.

The government is trying to encourage those youngsters to support the development of digital-based applications at the local level, he added. This would provide local MSME products the opportunity to develop.

The aim of developing digital applications at the local level is to expand the market penetration of products of MSMEs that are still small in scale, he informed. This has been deemed necessary considering that there are still a number of challenges to MSME digitization.

"The main issue of digitalization is not merely about them joining digital platforms but how they are able to survive and grow," he explained.

He further said that most MSMEs that have entered digital platforms have not yet been able to survive because they have not been able to meet market demand. Thus, digital platforms at the local level are urgently needed.

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Translator: Vicki Febrianto, Raka Adji
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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