The Ministry Of Trade And The Ministry Of Creative Economy For Cooperation Supports The Development Of MSME Products

JAKARTA - The Ministry of Trade (Kemendag) and the Ministry of Creative Economy (Kemenekraf) have established cooperation in developing creative Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) products.

This collaboration was marked by the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) by the Minister of Trade Budi Santoso and the Minister of Creative Economy/Head of the Creative Economy Agency Teuku Riefky Harsya in Jakarta on Sunday, March 23.

This agreement includes several strategic scopes to support creative economic growth. The scope, namely creative product development, capacity building of human resources, marketing facilitation of creative products, facilitation of protection and commercialization of intellectual property of creative products, as well as other activities agreed by both parties.

Trade Minister Budi Santoso said the MoU was a strategic step to increase the added value of MSMEs. He said this collaboration aims to strengthen the development of MSMEs in the creative product sub-sector so that they become resilient, innovative, and competitive entities in the domestic and global markets.

Together with the Ministry of Creative Economy, the Ministry of Trade collaborates to develop the creative economy. This agreement is a strategic step to increase the added value of Indonesian creative products," said Budi.

Budi also said that the development of creative products in Indonesia is an important strategy to increase the creative economy sector's contribution to the national economy.

The creative economy sector has made a significant contribution to the national Gross Domestic Product (GDP). By 2024, the creative economy sector has contributed around IDR 1.53 trillion to the national GDP.

In that year, he continued, the export value of the creative economy reached 25.10 billion US dollars. The export value of the creative economy is dominated by four main sub-sectors, namely fashion, craft, culinary, and publishing.

"This shows that Indonesia's creative products have received high recognition and demand in the international market, as well as being one of the important pillars of the national economy," said Budi.

Budi said the Ministry of Trade continues to build collaborations with various stakeholders to strengthen the export ecosystem of Indonesian creative products. One of the strategic partnerships built is with the Ministry of Creative Economy.

Development of creative products that are integrated with the MSMEs Dare Innovation Program, Ready to Adapt (BISA) Exports is a crucial step in accelerating the growth of MSMEs in the creative economy sector.

Through this program, the Ministry of Trade facilitates MSMEs to make business presentations (pitching) and explore business matching with trade representatives in 33 countries.

From January to February 2025, the Ministry of Trade has carried out 146 business matching activities, which include 91 pitching sessions and 55 meeting with buyers.

"The recorded transaction value reaches 8.77 million US dollars, consisting of purchase transactions worth 3.35 million US dollars and potential transactions worth 5.42 million US dollars," said Budi.

Meanwhile, Creative Economy Minister Teuku Riefky Harsya said strengthening the creative economy ecosystem was carried out through the collaboration of Hexahelix, namely the government, business world, academics, society, mass media, and law or regulation.

Furthermore, Riefky said this was done by developing research, education and protection of creativity. Through the spirit of collaboration in Hexahelix, it is hoped that the Kemenekraf flagship program can be carried out optimally so that it can provide as many benefits as possible for creative economy activists.

"Collaboration through this understanding is a concrete step in expanding the impact of the creative economy as well as responding to global challenges with a holistic approach. We are committed with the Ministry of Trade in expanding market access for creative economy products to the international market," said Riefky.