Kemenkop UKM Reveals Three Causes Of The Startup Of The Republic Of Indonesia Difficult To Compete In The Global Market

Coordinating Minister for SMEs Teten Masduki (Photo: Kemenkop UKM)

JAKARTA - Minister of Cooperatives and SMEs (Menkop UKM) Teten Masduki said the opportunity for domestic startups to compete in the global market is very wide open.

However, until now the startup opportunity to achieve this is still hampered by three things. First, the matter of access to the global market, which national startups must have an in-depth understanding of the international market. Including regulations, business culture and consumer preferences in target countries.

Second, related to capacity and scalability, which requires startups to build capacity and strategy to expand, both in terms of technology, human resources and capital.

Third, regarding collaboration and international networks, which startups must be able to establish partnerships with various parties abroad, be it governments, research institutions, and global corporations.

"To answer these challenges, we are committed to providing full support for Indonesian startups through various strategic programs. However, we realize that this effort cannot be done alone," said Teten in his official statement, written Wednesday, September 18.

Teten said, currently Indonesia is one of the countries with the most dynamic startup ecosystem in the world. In terms of the number of startups, there are more than 2,600 active startups. This also places Indonesia ranked 6th in the world with the highest number of startups.

To accelerate the growth of the startup, Teten said, support and collaboration from the Indonesian Business Incubators Association and various educational institutions in building human resource capacity and creating competitive innovations.

"We see in many countries that their ecosystem (startup) is very open to us to take advantage of it. We have collaborated with DBS Singapore, Australia, the Netherlands, South Korea and others to encourage more Indonesian startups to go international," he said.

He added that his party had opened communication with the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) to commercialize research results from academics or professionals. This can be an opportunity for startups to be able to continue the research results into products that are ready to be marketed.

"So, startups must first understand what business to run. So, the digital technology must follow the business, not the other way around," he said.

As for September 2024, the Kemenkop UKM has succeeded in providing acceleration and incubation assistance to 713 startups. In addition, the Kemenkop UKM has also implemented the Startup Go Global program involving 7 incubator institutions and 11 startups which were included in the short course and study visit to the Netherlands and Australia.