Cooperatives and Small and Medium Scale Entrepreneurs (SMEs) Minister Sjarifuddin Hasan said here Wednesday he had held a meeting with US Under Secretary of Commerce and International Trade Francisco Sancez on the sidelines of APEC Ministerial Meeting on SMEs in Big Sky, Montana, the United States, on May 20-21, 2011, to discuss the possible cooperation.
"We have agreed to develop entrepreneurship for SMEs in Indonesia," Minister Sjarifuddin said.
The US government will facilitate the program through two famous institutions for SME development, namely Koftman Foundation for Entrepreneurship and Boston College for Entrepreneurship.
"The US has committed to sharing experiences in promoting new entrepreneurship which is implemented through a American start-up program," he said.
The US is a country with the highest ratio of entrepreneurs in the world, therefore, it is strategic for Indonesia to learn from the US, according to the minister.
The US in the meeting also agreed to establish more formal cooperation with a wider coverage, including in the fields of
investment, trade, environmentally friendly energy mining, and transfer of technology for SMEs, he said.
"The US will also assist Indonesia`s chairmanship in APEC in 2013 and one of the themes will be financing for entrepreneurship," the minister added.
Indonesia has been decided to host the APEC SME Ministerial Meeting in 2013 after the meeting in Russia in 2012, he stated. (*)
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Editor: Jafar M Sidik
Copyright © ANTARA 2011
