Coordinating Minister Airlangga Calls MSMEs The Urat Of The Kerakyatan Economy At IMT-GT Expo

Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto. (Photo: Doc. ANTARA)

JAKARTA - Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand Growth Triangle (IMT-GT) agreed to strengthen cross-border trade cooperation in the growth triangle area.

Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto emphasized the important role of MSMEs as the lifeblood of the people's economy in the IMT-GT area.

"This initiative provides evidence that only with active involvement and synergy between all parties, can we maximize the potential for IMT-GT cooperation," he said at the opening of the expo, quoted Wednesday, September 27.

According to Airlangga, the IMT-GT Expo is also intended as a forum to display the advantages of the creative industry in the IMT-GT area.

The exhibition, which is attended by MSME representatives from Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand, is expected to open up opportunities for business actors to expand market access and inspire more concrete cross-border collaboration to support economic growth in the region.

"This is concrete evidence that strong and sustainable subregional cooperation is the key to achieving inclusive and sustainable growth, thus providing tangible benefits for our society," he said.

For information, the implementation of the IMT-GT Expo, which coincided with the Gebyar Melayu Pesisir, was carried out to coincide with the 30th anniversary of the Indonesia 'Malaysia' Thailand Growth Triangle or IMT-GT cooperation.

The activity will take place from September 26 to October 1, 2023.

In addition, the IMT-GT Expo also implemented one of the new breakthroughs in the area driven by Indonesia in the Chairship of ASEAN in 2023, namely the regional Local Currency Transaction (LCT) initiative.

Through this initiative, 5 ASEAN countries such as Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, and the Philippines can use their respective QR Codes or e-wallets for cross-border payments.

"In this exhibition, we will witness the implementation of the LCT initiative. People can use QRIS to transact at Indonesian, Malaysian and Thai merchants. This is certainly very good to promote cross-border trade," said Coordinating Minister Airlangga.

Meanwhile, the exhibition, which was attended by around 38 participants, offered various activities such as culinary bazaars, beverages, crafts, fashion products and other quality goods from MSMEs from the three countries.