Guarding The Trade Balance To Stay Positive, LPEI Has Salurkan Financing Rp666 Billion To Export-oriented SMEs

JAKARTA - The Indonesian Export Financing Agency (LPEI) continues to be committed to keeping Indonesia's trade balance on a positive track through efforts to increase the productivity of export-oriented SMEs.

LPEI Managing Director Maqin U. Norhadi said that after the COVID-19 pandemic, the SME sector was one of the backbones of the Indonesian economy, which continued to survive in supporting the supply chain needs involving millions of workers.

"The role of LPEI to improve the ability of business actors is realized through financial and non-financial assistance to be able to advance to superior exporters," he said in a press statement today, Thursday, December 29.

Maqin explained that his party had distributed SME financing of Rp666 billion to 100 business actors spread throughout Indonesia. Meanwhile, the sector that dominates is furniture products with a share of 32 percent of the portfolio.

"Through this financing facility, LPEI has succeeded in accommodating the obstacles faced by SME business actors, including business continuity, maintaining its employees," he said.

According to Maqin, every Rp1 billion in financing disbursed creates an additional consumption value of Rp2.2 billion.

"This also encourages an increase in export value of IDR 2 billion, an import value of IDR 1.6 billion, and a gross domestic income (GDP) of IDR 4 billion", he said.

Maqin added, LPEI also improves the class of micro, small and medium enterprises through non-financial improvement programs.

He said, this was in the form of a training program for new exporters and foreign exchange villages with the aim of generating state revenue and connecting local MSMEs through the global marketplace.

For information, the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) stated that Indonesia's export growth in the November period was recorded at 5.6 percent year on year (yoy). The torah also boosted the trade balance which reached a surplus of 5.16 billion US dollars.

"As an extension of the government, LPEI is ready to encourage national exports through training and financing business actors so that they have strong durability in the midst of the current global pressure conditions," he concluded.