MSMEs Need Database Strengthening To Easily Access Financial Products And Services

JAKARTA - Strengthening the database of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) is one of the keys to developing easily accessible financial products and services. This will strengthen the MSME sector as well as increase financial inclusivity due to the opening of choices of financial products and services for MSMEs.

This was raised at the 1st Plenary Meeting of Global Partnership for Financial Inclusion (GPFI) which was held by the G20 Indonesia Presidency for financial channels (Bank Indonesia and the Ministry of Finance) virtually on February 3-4. "This meeting discusses the G20 Priority Agenda for the Indonesian Presidency in 2022, particularly related to the role of digitalization in an effort to increase financial inclusion and the development of MSMEs," said Chief Executive Director of the Communications Department of Bank Indonesia Erwin Haryono in a statement, Saturday, February 5.

The presidency of Indonesia together with Italy and Russia is embodied in the function of the GPFI co-chairs who guide the meeting.

Erwin said that the GPFI 2022 agenda was focused on encouraging digitalization to support increasing the income of MSMEs and vulnerable community groups, as well as introducing digital innovation and data harmonization. "In the discussion on MSME financing, a regulatory diagnostic toolkit was proposed for Digital Financial Services," Erwin added.

According to Erwin, this analytical framework aims to strengthen MSME access to digital financial product and service innovations and determine the right strategy to strengthen the acquisition of data and information about MSMEs. This meeting also discussed the importance of identifying the most efficient approach and method for data harmonization.

"In general, all GPFI members agree that data harmonization is very important for the development of digital financial inclusion and is also believed to be extended not only to G20 members, but also to other countries," Erwin explained.