Ministry Of Foreign Affairs And The Ministry Of Finance Strengthen Cooperation To Support MSMEs Go Global

JAKARTA - The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Finance are strengthening institutional cooperation to support economic diplomacy, including encouraging Indonesia's micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to penetrate the overseas market (go global).

The strengthening of cooperation was marked by the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for Cooperation in the State Finance and Foreign Relations to Support Economic Diplomacy by Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi and Minister of Finance Sri Mulyani Indrawati.

"Through this MoU, the government supports MSMEs to penetrate international markets," said Retno at the signing of the MoU at the Pancasila building, Jakarta, as reported by ANTARA, Monday, August 14.

Under the administration of President Joko Widodo, he said, the Indonesian government pays great attention to MSMEs as the backbone of the Indonesian economy.

"With the largest number of MSMEs in Southeast Asia, the contribution of our MSMEs to the economy is only 15 percent... while Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand (its contribution to their economy) is much greater," said Retno.

Therefore, the Foreign Minister hopes that the cooperation established by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Finance through the MoU can be immediately implemented in 131 Indonesian representatives abroad as 'eyes and ears' as well as Indonesian information agents abroad.

In the short term, Retno asked the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Finance to map out strategies between MSMEs and Indonesian representatives to conduct a comprehensive study of opportunities for Indonesian MSME products in accredited countries.

"The Ministry of Finance can supply data on the potential of MSMEs based on joint curation regarding their advantages and export capacity, so that we can synergize and encourage their implementation. Meanwhile, Indonesian representatives (out of the country) are asked for accurate information from the aspect of entry and market penetration permits," he said.

In the long term, Retno emphasized that the two ministries must have a performance evaluation mechanism based on clear criteria, such as increasing exports and income.

"In the future, we must expand this collaboration to related ministries and institutions for us to form a global large MSME strategy, from capacity development, production financing, to product marketing," said Retno.