ASEAN Becomes The Target Of Cross-National Trade, Teten Reveals The Reason

BALI - Minister of Cooperatives and SMEs (Menkop UKM) Teten Masduki revealed a number of reasons why the ASEAN Region was targeted by cross-border trade.

First, ASEAN has a large market. Second, abundant natural resources (SDA). The third is the potential for a promising tourism industry. The fourth cause is the significant population.

"With a population of 679 million people or 8 percent of the world's population, ASEAN presents a very promising market for the world," said Minister Teten at the Sixth ASEAN Inclusive Business Summit 2023 event in Nusa Dua, Bali, on Wednesday, August 23.

Teten added that good economic growth in several ASEAN Region countries also supports the increase in the entry of imported goods.

"Economic growth in several ASEAN countries is above the global average, which is 5 percent. This is why we are often targeted by cross-border products outside ASEAN," he said.

Therefore, said Teten, ASEAN must support SMEs and unite to become the world's SME production center. According to him, countries in ASEAN must offer opportunities for export-import synergy of products, goods, and services between ASEAN countries.

"All ASEAN countries must provide accurate data for and from SMEs," he said.

In addition, continued Teten, the need to strengthen the digital ecosystem for SMEs begins by increasing digital literacy, ensuring equality in e-commerce, preventing predatory pricing practices from both legal and illegal imported products, and providing easy access to finance based on transaction records for credit scoring.

"We have to increase the capacity and quality of SMEs, from products to business models. The increase in synergy is not only limited to SMEs, but also large industries throughout ASEAN member countries with the moderation of roles as producers, manufacturing, and regional trade hubs," he said.

Not only that, Teten said, ASEAN must ensure that its people support local and regional products because ASEAN is dominated by the fast-growing middle class with high purchasing power.

He is optimistic that the Southeast Asian Region is very relevant to becoming the center of world economic growth. This is in line with the theme of Indonesia's leadership in ASEAN 2023: "ASEAN Matters: Epicentrum of Growth".

"Therefore, ASEAN must ensure the creation of young entrepreneurs and future SMEs based on creativity and technology, with inclusive businesses in line with global consensus, rapidly growing into world-class players," he concluded.