The office's head, Naslindo Sirait, informed here on Monday that the turnover at the quadrennial multi-sport event met the target.
Sirait said that during the Sports Week, which was held from September 8 to 20, 2024, the businesses that contributed the most to the turnover were food businesses, followed by clothes, souvenirs, and textiles, among others.
As many as 500 MSMEs participated in the festivals, bazaars, additional events, and activities held in regions such as Siantar City, Langkat District, Binjai City, and Deli Serdang District.
"Overall, with the presence of PON, they experienced an increase in sales well," he informed.
He said his office will continue to carry out evaluations to improve MSMEs. One of the efforts taken by the office is carrying out curation in accordance with the needs of the event.
This, according to him, is necessary so that MSMEs participating in other events can improve their sales power to boost the economy.
Furthermore, he said that during PON, transactions were made digitally using the Quick Response Code Indonesian Standard (QRIS), though some transactions involved manual payment systems.
Sirait affirmed that this also increased the use of QRIS in North Sumatra, which currently only stands at 40 percent out of 1.1 million recorded business players.
He said that the office is targeting to get 60–70 percent of MSMEs to utilize QRIS by the end of 2024, and the rate is expected to rise to 80 percent next year.
Related news: Local MSMEs derives benefit from Papua PON
Related news: PON Papua boosting accommodation, MSME sectors: INDEF
Translator: M Sahbainy, Raka Adji
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
Copyright © ANTARA 2024
