Indonesian MSME Actors Must Strengthen Domestic Market To Minimize The Impact Of Middle East Conflict

JAKARTA - Secretary-General of the Indonesian MSME Association (Akumindo) Edy Misero said that Indonesian MSME players must strengthen the domestic market to minimize the impact of the current Iran and Israel conflict.

Edy said that the Iran-Israeli conflict, which has lasted for about two weeks, has not shown a significant impact on Indonesian MSMEs, especially in domestic marketing.

He said the impact of this conflict was felt if MSME actors were very dependent on importing raw materials so that it had an impact on domestic production.

"So we have to protect our local consumers, around 280 million Indonesians are consumers that we have to protect so that we remain prospective to survive," he said, quoted from Antara, Wednesday, April 24.

The Iran-Israeli conflict caused the rupiah exchange rate against the US dollar to decline. On Tuesday, April 23, the rupiah reached Rp. 16,244 per US dollar from the previous Rp. 16,237 per US dollar.

A number of economists predict the conflict between Iran and Israel will also trigger an increase in world oil and gold prices.

In the midst of the heated geopolitical situation and the weakening of the rupiah, Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto told reporters on Monday, April 22, optimistic that the Indonesian economy will continue to grow by 5 percent in the first quarter of 2024.

Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati also stated that she had prepared a strategy to maintain the rupiah exchange rate in the midst of the Iran-Israeli conflict.

"Macroeconomic stability will always be maintained, both in terms of monetary and fiscal. Coordination with Bank Indonesia continues to be carried out to adapt to existing pressures," he said on the official Instagram account @smindrawati, Sunday, April 21.