Good News, Erick Thohir Promises Special Financing for MSMEs

Erick Thohir promised special financing for MSMEs. (Antara Photo)

JAKARTA - This is good news for MSMEs throughout Indonesia. SOE Minister Erick Thohir revealed that the development of MSMEs will be done in two ways, namely financing and investment.

"So there will be two developments for MSMEs, apart from financing, there is also something called investment," said Erick Thohir when delivering a keynote speech at the University of Muhammadiyah Malang, as monitored online from Jakarta, Saturday, January 15.

According to the Minister of State-Owned Enterprises, the government of the President of the Republic of Indonesia, Joko Widodo, is encouraging extraordinary growth by targeting loan growth to MSMEs of up to 30 percent, which is currently only 20 percent.

MSME works still need promotion and exhibition support. (Illustration Between)

This is certainly not enough, considering that the growth of loans to MSMEs is still far below Malaysia and Thailand, which have reached 50 percent.

"What does that mean? We have something left behind that we have to fix. The market is big and growing, now the government is encouraging financing for MSMEs. Not only for conventional MSMEs but also for digital MSMEs," said Erick Thohir as reported by Antara.

Furthermore, the Minister of SOEs said that BRI had launched what was called the Sembrani Fund, namely investment in local products or brands. In addition, the President of the Republic of Indonesia Joko Widodo has also launched the Merah Putih Fund which is a combination of Telkom, Telkomsel, Mandiri, and BRI to invest in start-up companies or startups.

Minister of Finance Sri Mulyani (center) when she saw the results of MSME production some time ago. (Photo: Doc. Ministry of Finance)

The startup requirements that will be assisted by the Merah Putih Fund are startups founded by Indonesians, operating in Indonesia, and later going public in Indonesia.

Previously, SOE Minister Erick Thohir revealed that the role of MSMEs was very important in driving the Indonesian economy.

The Indonesian economy itself is driven largely by the informal economy. Therefore, the role of MSMEs is very important.

According to Erick Thohir, the existence of SOEs that are close to the people, such as BRI, helps many MSMEs in microcredit and streamlines the process. This not only grows the people's economy to rise in the midst of the pandemic, but also increases the volume of transactions.