Airlangga Brings Good News: Italian PM Mario Draghi Appreciates Jokowi's Programs In Empowering Women And MSMEs

President of the Republic of Indonesia, Joko Widodo. (Photo: Doc. Antara)

JAKARTA - Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto said Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi appreciated Indonesian President Joko Widodo's programs regarding the empowerment of MSMEs, increasing the role of women in business, and economic inclusiveness.

"The Italian PM appreciates the programs presented by the President," Airlangga said in an online press statement regarding the Group of Twenty (G20) Summit in Rome, which was watched on the Presidential Secretariat's YouTube channel, quoted from Antara, Sunday 31 October.

In the series of G20 summits, there was a side event on MSMEs and women-owned businesses that presented President Jokowi as a speaker, along with Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and Queen Maxima from the Netherlands.

President Jokowi conveyed about the micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSME) empowerment programs that Indonesia had carried out, such as the provision of ultra-micro credit, people's business loans (KUR), the Mekar program or Fostering a Prosperous Family Economy, to the digitization of MSMEs.

"Digitalization onboarding involves 65 million MSMEs with a contribution of 61 percent, and most of them also involve women," said Coordinating Minister Airlangga.

Queen Maxima, said Airlangga, also gave an example of efforts to implement an inclusive economy in Indonesia with the presence of online motorcycle taxi services.

During the sideline event regarding MSMEs, President Jokowi said that Indonesia currently has more than 65 million MSME units that contribute to 61 percent of the national economy. For Indonesia, MSMEs are the main pillar of the economy.

At the same time, 64 percent of Indonesian MSME actors are women. Therefore, for Indonesia, the program to empower MSMEs also means empowering women. MSMEs have also shown quite high resilience in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In addition, Indonesia has also launched 1.1 billion US dollars for the Productive Micro Business Program and 63.5 percent of which is received by women entrepreneurs.