Love Indonesian Products As A Form Of State Defense

Business Matching of Domestic Products in 2023 at Istora Senayan, Jakarta on March 15, 2023. (BPMI Setpres/Rusman)

JAKARTA Article 30 paragraph (1) of the 1945 Constitution has emphasized that every citizen has the right and must participate in the state defense business. The form of defending the country in the current context is not only a matter of military service, but rather leads one of them to the economic dimension.

The current entry of various foreign products is clearly a very real threat to the sustainability of small and medium enterprises. They certainly find it difficult to compete with the more competitive invasion of foreign economic power.

This is where real action is needed from each citizen to carry out their obligations. Siswanto in the journal of Defense and State Defense entitled 'Love Domestic Products as Manifestation of State Defense in the Global Era' said, as a child of the nation should be proud of using domestic products.

"Love national products more is a manifestation of defending the country in the current era," he said.

Using domestic products means supporting and developing local businesses, creating jobs, and ultimately strengthening the domestic market to have a positive impact on national economic growth.

Local businesses as acknowledged by the Minister of Finance Sri Mulyani Indrawati are the backbone of the world economy. Contributing 90 percent of business activities and contributing more than 50 percent of job opportunities around the world. In developing countries, local businesses, especially formal MSMEs, contribute about 40 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

"This contribution is actually much bigger if we also include the informal sector which is mostly not recorded," said the Minister of Finance at The 6th Annual Islamic Finance Conference which was held online in August 2022.

Indonesia has 64 million MSMEs representing 99 percent of total business activities. They even absorb 97 percent of the job and contribute 60 percent of GDP.

Thus, development and empowerment, local businesses, especially Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) are very important.

"The government has so far focused on doing four things: infrastructure development; financing programs; encouraging the digitization of MSMEs; and increasing synergy and coordination between governments and stakeholders including SOEs, local governments, and the private sector to produce effective results in empowering MSMEs," he said.

To support this, President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) has also repeatedly reminded his staff to prioritize the use of domestic products in the procurement of goods and services.

In the Proudly Made in Indonesia Affirmation Action event in Bali on March 25 last year, Jokowi mentioned the budget of IDR 1,061 trillion owned by the central government and local governments.

If 40 percent or IDR 400 trillion of the expenditure budget is disbursed for local products, the circulation of domestic money can boost economic growth by 1.5-1.7 percent.

Then if you add BUMN 0.4 percent, the result is two percent more or less looking everywhere. We are silent but consistent in buying goods produced in factories, industries, MSMEs. It's stupid that we don't do this, instead we buy imported goods," Jokowi said as broadcast on the Presidential Secretariat's YouTube.

When only hospital beds have to be imported. TNI uniforms and shoes as well as the police, CCTV, school uniforms, and even imported stationery. In fact, many local business actors are able to produce these items.

"Sometimes I think, do we understand this? Maybe we don't work in detail so we don't understand that the goods purchased are imported goods," said Jokowi.

In his remarks when opening the 2023 Domestic Product Business Matching event at Istora Senayan, Jakarta on March 15, 2023, Jokowi again reminded the same thing. It seems inappropriate to use APBN funds to shop for imported products.

State revenue in the APBN is collected from various sources, ranging from taxes, dividends, royalties, to non-tax state revenues. This is not an easy process. Then after being collected, juriru is spent on imports.

"This is what I always remind you. I was surprised at first, I opened it, there were so many purchases of our imported products. In fact, the source of the purchase was APBN money. This is what we want to straighten out," he said on the official website of the Presidential Secretariat.

"If it's sophisticated, go ahead, want to buy a fighter because we can't (produce it) yet. But for weapons, bullets, we can already do it, especially only shoes, why should we buy it from outside?" added Jokowi.

It is useless for the number of domestic products in e catalog to jump from 50 thousand to 3.4 million products if there is no significant increase in the use of its products.

Ministry/institution, BUMN, BUMD, provinces, cities, regencies, everyone look at it e-catalog, buy it. It's useless for us to collect it into e-catalog (if) just watched, not bought, for what?' he said.

In the future, Jokowi will act decisively by imposing incentives and sanctions. Incentives in the form of performance allowances are obtained based on the level of use of domestic products.

"I have ordered the MenPAN-RB. If everything has entered the Tukin, everything will be enthusiastic, we will connect it with the purchase of domestic products in ministries and institutions, districts and cities, provinces," he said.

As for the sanctions, the President asked the Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment to formulate it. With the incentive system and sanctions, the President hopes that the Increase in the Use of Domestic Production (P3DN) can be more optimal.

"So I hope that later we will check again so that everything becomes optimal and if the hatching is done, there should be sanctions as well. If those who are still buying, both BUMN, BUMD, provinces, districts/cities, ministries/agencies, are still trying to buy imported products from APBN, APBD, BUMN, the sanctions please formulate the Coordinating Minister, let all of us work with rewards and punishment," added Jokowi.

Using domestic products is a form of support and appreciation for the hard work of the nation's children in the economic field, as well as a reflection of nationalism.