"For now, Indonesia has 2,600 start-ups, the 6th largest (figure) in the world. However, we need acceleration to help these start-ups become strong businesses in domestic and foreign markets," Cooperatives and Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) Minister Teten Masduki said at the "2023 Road To Indonesia Start-up Ecosystem Summit" at Solo Technopark (STP) on Friday.
Therefore, the financing system, incubators, and government policies in the trade sector must be integrated. The government is targeting to increase the number of new entrepreneurs from 3.47 percent to 3.95 percent of the total population, he noted.
"We need to have another million new entrepreneurs. This is part of our road map to prepare as (the nation is targeting to be among) developed countries. Because developed countries have a minimum number of entrepreneurs of 4 percent," he explained.
His ministry is working with private companies and universities to create new incubators. Therefore, it is expected that the products created by entrepreneurs will be of better quality.
"Do not make the same product because it can kill the old business. New entrepreneurs need to make new products," Masduki emphasized.
On the same occasion, Tourism and Creative Economy Minister Sandiaga Salahuddin Uno said 9 million jobs would be created in the next 10 years in the form of digital talents needed by the start-up ecosystem.
"We will continue to prepare this. This digital transformation can open up business and employment opportunities. There are many of our daily needs that have not empowered our MSMEs. If our MSMEs are digitized, it will open up business opportunities and jobs," he added.
Meanwhile, Minister of Communication and Information, Budi Arie Setiadi, said that his ministry will help maintain traffic on the connectivity side.
"If we talk about digital ecosystems, the first thing we have to think about is digital infrastructure," he highlighted.
Furthermore, Google's research has shown that a 10-percent increase in internet speed can contribute 1 percent to a country's economic growth.
"Competing with the ASEAN region, we are left behind. We talk about the digital ecosystem but our internet speed is still a problem. That will be our responsibility because we understand that digital infrastructure plays a key role in supporting the digital ecosystem," he disclosed.
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Translator: Aris Wasita, Resinta S
Editor: Azis Kurmala
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