Minister Agus: The Growth Of Small And Medium Industries Can Create New Jobs

Minister of Industry Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita/PHOTO VIA ANTARA

JAKARTA - Minister of Industry Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita said the role of small and medium industries (IKM) in the Indonesian economy is quite large at this time. Agus is optimistic that with the increasing growth of IKM in the country, it will automatically create new jobs.

"With the growth of small industries in Indonesia, it will be able to create an economy which in turn can create employment or the application of manpower," he said at the launch of the Quality Improvement of the BUMN Procurement System, Thursday, September 9.

Agus said SMEs also have an important role for the Ministry of Industry. One of them is in strengthening the structure of the manufacturing industry in the country.

"If it can be caught with the COVID-19 last year, there are a lot of industry opportunities that still have holes," he said.

Therefore, Agus said, the Ministry of Industry wants to encourage SMEs to take part in the 35 percent import substitution program in 2022. Agus said that with the involvement of SMEs in this program, in the end the structure of the manufacturing industry in the country will be stronger.

"I am very confident and hope that this import substitution program can run well, including our efforts to strengthen the structure of the manufacturing industry in Indonesia," he said.

MSMEs are not competitors to state companies

Meanwhile, SOE Minister Erick Thohir also reminded state-owned companies about MSMEs not being competitors. In fact, SMEs are business partners. The integration of the two has a significant impact on national economic growth.

"This is not the time for SOEs to become ivory towers, we must be able to compete in the open market and be the MSME locomotive behind it. That's why we are talking about not letting SOEs profit, but MSMEs going bankrupt," he said.

Erick said the goods and services procurement program or digital procurement that had been developed by BUMN was PaDi UMKM. Through this program, MSMEs can access tenders for the procurement of goods and services by SOEs online. On the other hand, MSMEs can also post their products for SOEs to buy.