Wamenperin Faisol Akui RI Belum Optimal Rebut Pasar ASEAN

JAKARTA - Deputy Minister of Industry (Wamenperin) Faisol Riza admitted that Indonesia has not been optimal in taking advantage of market opportunities in Southeast Asia (ASEAN).

In fact, the large population of ASEAN is very possible for Indonesia to gain the Indonesian economy if the market can be utilized properly.

According to Faisol, Indonesia should be able to work on the market potential in ASEAN for the advancement of the national industry.

"We see that we have not worked on the ASEAN market optimally. Our big job is to find markets that are also outside our traditional commodities," said Faisol at the Prabowo-Gibran Government 1 Year Event in Jakarta, Thursday, October 16.

Faisol gave an example, an Alfamart outlet founded by an Indonesian named Djoko Susanto, has now spread to open 2,000 outlets in the Philippines.

He said that the potential for trade will increasingly benefit from the establishment of local outlets made abroad, because products from Indonesia can be known more widely by foreign consumers.

Then, he said, the presence of foreign outlets operating in Indonesia with domestic companies also brings opportunities for the opening of the trade market to be more optimal. For example, with the presence of Circle K, Family Mart, and Lawson.

"We hope that the outlets can become our trade ambassadors for the beginning of our opening up wider market, so that our exports are more," explained Faisol.

The politician from the National Awakening Party (PKB) assessed that opening the market is not only the responsibility of business actors.

The government, continued Faisol, is obliged to participate in helping entrepreneurs to get more customers to create a multiplier effect for the economy and the advancement of the domestic industry.

"So, this is what we have to do together with business actors so that these new markets are more open," explained Faisol.

"With one million new workers, the money is around Rp. 65 trillion. If this is a multiplier effect, then approximately it can create new jobs 1.5 to 2.5 times the number of workers," he concluded.