Minister Teten Launches Free Legal Aid Applications For MSMEs, Here's The Reason

Minister of Cooperatives and SMEs (Menkop UKM) Teten Masduki. Photo: Doc. Public Relations Kemenkop UKM

JAKARTA - Minister of Cooperatives and SMEs (Menkop UKM) Teten Masduki launched a special legal assistance service application for MSMEs, namely LBH UMK.

Teten said, this is important to do so that micro-enterprises who do not have large capital can get legal protection from lawyers when undergoing legal processes related to their business.

"For this reason, the Ministry of Cooperatives and SMEs (Kemenkop UKM) together with ministries/agencies, local governments, universities, and various related parties launched the LBH application, as a form of MSME protection initiative in business," Minister Teten told reporters, Wednesday, October 4.

Teten said this was in accordance with the mandate of the Job Creation Law and Government Regulation Number 7 of 2021 concerning Ease, Protection, and Empowerment of Cooperatives and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises which stated that the government must be present to provide legal assistance and assistance services for UMK actors.

"Because no matter how small the business is, there is a possibility to deal with legal problems. Starting from business agreements, business contracts at home and abroad, many intersect with legal aspects. There are also many micro business actors whose legal literacy is still low," he said.

He noted several legal problems that were hit by UMK players, such as export fraud, high-interesting loans, defaults with large businesses, fake orders, and discriminatory treatment.

Therefore, Teten hopes that the socialization of the platform will be carried out actively.

He also encouraged stakeholders to educate UMK players regarding the importance of legal literacy.

"There must be education to recognize business crime practices that have the potential to harm UMK players, so that they can continue to be vigilant and have the ability to be careful," he said.

On the same occasion, Deputy for Micro Business at the Ministry of Cooperatives and SMEs Yulius said that the government's role in increasing the competitiveness of the UMK was not only carried out in terms of economic empowerment, but also in terms of legal protection for UMK.

Yulius said, since 2021, the Ministry of Cooperatives and SMEs itself has synergized with ministries/agencies, local governments, universities, and various related parties to provide legal literacy for 6,950 micro-enterprises and free legal assistance assistance to 56 UMK players who face legal problems.

"We realize that literacy and legal assistance efforts, especially for UMK, must be increased again. Given that the number of UMKs that need to be served is so large and its existence is scattered in remote parts of the country," he added.