"The government is supporting you to make products for import substitution," the ministry's Expert Staff for Finance and MSME Development, Loto Srinaita Ginting, told MSME players in Jakarta on Tuesday.
Ginting made the statement during an event titled "Business Matching PaDI UMKM (MSME) Jakarta 2023" in Central Jakarta. The event is held to directly connect the group of buyers, including SOEs and their sub-holdings, with MSME actors.
In her speech, Ginting encouraged buyers participating in the business matching event to build closer relations with local MSMEs.
She emphasized the need for buyers to start having confidence in the MSMEs' capability of producing import substitution products by switching to purchasing and using their products.
"We are also collaborating with ministries and agencies to boost the rate of domestic component level in Indonesian products," she noted.
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Ginting then expressed belief that import substitution would augment the toughness and resilience of domestic industries, adding that it would also boost the circulation of domestically-produced goods in the country and enhance their competitiveness.
"We still have numerous opportunities to substitute imported products with domestically-manufactured products. This will lead us to have more competitive products," she explained.
PaDI UMKM serves as a marketplace that offers sorted products from Indonesian MSMEs that can meet the procurement standards of SOEs.
According to Ginting, SOEs Minister Erick Thohir had devised the marketplace in the hopes of involving MSMEs in SOEs' procurement activities. She then added that PaDI UMKM constitutes part of the Proud of Made in Indonesia (BBI) National Movement.
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Translator: Putu I, Tegar Nurfitra
Editor: Yuni Arisandy Sinaga
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