Encouraging Businesses With Disabilities To Master The Digital Economy, Kemenkop And SMEs Collaborate With The Indonesian Tangguh Women Foundation

JAKARTA - The Ministry of Cooperatives and Small and Medium Enterprises (Kemenkop and UKM) in collaboration with the Indonesian Tangguh Women's Foundation (PTI) encourages business people from the disabled to master the digital economy, along with digital transformation that occurs in almost all aspects of life.

To that end, the Ministry of Cooperatives and SMEs invite entrepreneurs from people with disabilities assisted by the PTI Foundation to participate in the Quarterly Seminar 3 Side Event B20 G20 Digital Economy to Support SDGs, which was held at the Hilton Hotel, Nusa Dua Bali, Monday 8 August.

This side event discusses the adoption of digitalization for MSMEs that has been carried out by Indonesia. Carrying the theme "Spirit No One Behind", the Ministry of Cooperatives and SMEs provide the greatest opportunity for business people from people with disabilities assisted by the PTI Foundation to display their works at the B20 G20 event, at the Hilton Hotel, Nusa Dua, Bali. exhibited, among others, include craft, culinary and disability skills exhibitions that have been educated and distributed through PTI Academy batches 1 and 2.

Minister of Cooperatives and SMEs Teten Masduki directly opened this event online. This activity was also attended by the Governor of Bali I Wayan Koster, Indian Ambassador Manoj Kumar Bharti, Minister of Communications and Informatics Jhonny Gerad Plate virtually and related stakeholders.

In his speech, Teten Masduki said that the choice of this theme was in accordance with the focus of the G20 presidential agenda, in digital transformation. This, he continued, is related to efforts to prepare a new landscape of cooperation between countries and stakeholders to ensure mutual prosperity in Indonesia.

"Speaking of the digital economy, of course it is very complete by utilizing aspects of digital technology related to MSME and cooperative business processes," said Teten in a written statement, quoted on Tuesday, August 9.

Teten said that the current use of the digital economy is also a concern for the development of MSME business processes and cooperatives.

Based on data from the Ministry of Cooperatives and SMEs, as many as 86 percent of all MSME actors in Indonesia rely heavily on the internet to carry out their business activities. Data from the Ministry of Cooperatives and SMEs also noted that around 73 percent of MSME players already have an account at digital marketplaces, and 82 percent promote via the internet.

This shows that MSMEs that contribute up to 61 percent of Indonesia's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) have a major role in the digital economy map in the country.

The general chairman of PTI Myra Winarko said that the opportunities provided by the Ministry of Cooperatives and SMEs were able to open up opportunities for 31 million people with disabilities in Indonesia.

"On this occasion, we do not just exhibit and sell the work of our students. It is further to open business links for people with disabilities. We are very grateful for this activity, we hope to open more opportunities for people with disabilities in Indonesia to be economically empowered, ' said Myra.

To note, PTI Foundation is a business incubator for people with disabilities. That is why, the Ministry of Cooperatives and SMEs cooperate with PTI so that they can continue to take sustainable steps to support Sustainable Development (Digital Economy to Support SDGs).

"God willing, we will answer the Minister's challenge regarding the digitalization ecosystem for people with disabilities from upstream to downstream," said Myra.

So far, PTI has carried out its function by fostering various disability communities in various parts of Indonesia. Among them is the community with mental retardation in Bandung, West Java, which produces Salted Eggs.

Then, Make Up Artist training for the mute and deaf, painting training, and cooking training. The graduates of this PTI training are on average already independent, some of whom have even been able to enter the job market as professionals.

PTI as a business incubator also cooperates with several large companies and banks, to continue to provide guidance and digital marketing.

"In the future, we even plan to create our own platform, in addition to providing training for people with disabilities to enter the digital world independently," said Myra.