Minister Teten: 80 Percent Of MSMEs Connected To Digital Ecosystems Have Better Resilience

Minister of Cooperatives and SMEs Teten Masduki. (Photo: Doc. Antara)

JAKARTA - The COVID-19 pandemic has had a very significant impact on all sectors of the economy. Various types of businesses are experiencing strong pressure, including micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs). Businesses that are connected to the digital ecosystem have better resilience in the midst of a pandemic.

Minister of Cooperatives and SMEs Teten Masduki said digitalization has proven to make MSMEs survive and grow during the pandemic. This can be seen from transactions in e-commerce during the pandemic, which increased 54 percent or more than 3 million transactions per day.

"There were also 37 percent of new internet service users during the pandemic. So it's growing, this is Google data this year. Then 80 percent of MSMEs connected to the digital ecosystem have better resilience, this is the result of a World Bank survey. So for us, digitizing MSMEs is very important," he said in a virtual discussion, Tuesday, December 14.

As is known, the government continues to encourage MSMEs to transform to digital or online. Currently, MSMEs that are integrated with the digital market have increased by 105 percent to 16.4 million players. This is driven by the high level of online trade.

Minister of Cooperatives and SMEs (Menkop UKM) Teten Masduki said that the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the digitization of SMEs. With the increasing number of MSMEs that are integrated into the digital market, this sector will recover faster.

"Currently the new normal order in the midst of a pandemic has pushed online trading patterns to stretch. Currently, there are 16.4 million or an increase of 105 percent since the MSME pandemic that has joined the digital ecosystem," he said at the Launching of the Digital Storefront for MSME Products with Indonesian National Standard (SNI), Tuesday, November 30.

Teten said that with the increasing number of MSMEs entering the digital market, it would be easier for the government to push these MSMEs into global supply chains. So it is necessary to standardize the product by providing the Indonesian National Standard or SNI certification.

"Therefore, to encourage MSMEs to enter the supply chain, we also carry out programs. Now it is important that SNI is related to our main program, namely encouraging our MSMEs to become part of the industrial supply chain," he said.

Teten said that based on the results of a survey conducted in 2018 showed that the big challenge for MSMEs lies in product competitiveness. Indonesia's MSMEs are still inferior to countries such as Singapore.

"In Asean, Indonesia is ranked 4th after Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand. MSME products can be globally competitive, requiring product development, business licensing, standardization, and certification so that MSME products have a high selling value," he said.

As is known, the MSME sector dominates 99.9 percent or 65.4 million of business actors in Indonesia. This sector also contributes 61 percent of the national GDP and is able to absorb nearly 97 percent of the workforce.

"MSME actors have a significant impact on improving welfare, especially during the pandemic, and are part of the national economic recovery," he said.