Unable To Imitate China, Teten Curhat Is Difficult To Become A Developed Country

Menkop UKM Teten Masduki (Photo: Theresia Agatha/VOI)

JAKARTA - Minister of Cooperatives and SMEs (Menkop UKM) Teten Masduki said that it was difficult for Indonesia to become a developed country within 40 years like China. He said the bamboo curtain country took 30 years to become a developed country like today.

Meanwhile, Indonesia itself for 30 years is still trapped as a middle-income country.

Teten also wondered if it was possible that Indonesia would get out of the device within the next 10 years or in 2034.

"Indonesia is preparing to become a developed country in 2045. Apart from developed countries, it is more precisely a high-income country. This means that from the current 4.500 US dollars per capita to USD 30.000 per capita. We have been trapped as an intermediate-income country for 30 years," said Teten in the Forwakop Discussion agenda related to the role of MSMEs in Downstreaming the Aquaculture and Agriculture Sector, Friday, March 8.

"From China's experience, China needs 40 years to become a developed country. We have 30 years and maybe not, here, two more presidential elections," he continued.

According to Teten, for Indonesia to be able to follow China's steps is difficult. The reason, he said, Indonesia may take longer than China to become a developed country.

"My show is tough, maybe longer than China," he said.

Therefore, said Teten, job creation cannot depend on the presence of large investments and/or the arrival of industries from outside to Indonesia first. However, how can Indonesia industrialize Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs).

"The nation that has failed to become a developed country is a nation that does not transform its production method from traditional ways by producing using technology. Therefore, this downstream talks about how we transform using modern production technology," he said.

"We built joint production houses to transform a simple one into a modern transformation tool. We wake up factories to process our resources into finished or downstream production. If this continues, later we can produce MSME products like industry," added Teten.

With the transformation of modern production technology, Teten said, later Indonesian MSMEs will not only sell small-scale chips, but can make and sell chips with brand-brand packaging, just like global products made in the United States (US).

"MSMEs no longer sell small-scale chips, but we can make chips with packaging brands, such as American products with mustaches. It's okay to make chips, but the scale is industrial. Not like now, only 10-20 kg because there is no supply of raw materials, and still slices with hands," he said.

Furthermore, Teten said, until now the majority of employment opportunities in the country come from MSMEs. However, as much as 96 percent are still micro-enterprises.

"What is micro-Employment? The turnover is below IDR 2 billion, not productive, the scale of the household economy and informal. It can be changed for another 10 years to a stronger job, such as in the industrial sector and so on," he said.