Collaboration Between The Ministry Of Communication And Informatics And Dekranas To Help MSMEs Awaken

The Speakers of the Digital Webinar held by the Ministry of Communication and Informatics and Dekranas. (Ist Photo)

JAKARTA - Production alone is not enough, it is necessary to think about the right marketing method so that the products produced by MSMEs can compete and reach consumers. The Ministry of Communication and Information (Kemenkominfo) and Dekranas collaborate to help MSMEs to rise.

In an effort to encourage national economic recovery, the Public Relations and Promotion Division of the National Crafts Council (Dekranas) and the Regional National Crafts Council (Dekranasda) of Bali Province collaborated with the Ministry of Communications and Informatics to hold a Digital Webinar with the theme: "Together with Dekranas Encouraging Acceleration of National Economic Recovery through Creative Wastra SMEs" at the Sheraton Bali, Thursday 30 June.

Head of Promotion and Public Relations of the National Crafts Council (Dekranas), Maria Anna Plate, said Dekranas continues to encourage the progress of Indonesian wastra, including weaving, which will be proposed as Indonesian intangible cultural heritage at UNESCO. Continuous acceleration of national literature and MSMEs, including those in Bali, is carried out with the right curation to be able to produce the best literature that can be displayed on the international stage.

"We want to convey that in a piece of cloth there is a philosophy of life that is full of meaning, there are messages and stories as well as the value of life that is full of wisdom," said Anna Plate.

In line with this, in his remarks, the Director of Information and Public Communication for the Economy and Maritime Affairs of the Ministry of Communication and Information said, “As we all know, wastra is one of the superior products of the country's cultural wealth. Weaving wastra SMEs are spread throughout Bali and 60 percent of Bali's export value comes from industries including weaving. With good collaboration with the Dekranas and Dekranasda Bali, we continue to strive to encourage the improvement of MSMEs as pillars of the national economy," he said.

The Speakers of the Digitalk Webinar saw firsthand the work of MSMEs that were exhibited at the event location. (Ist Photo)

This activity was opened by the Director General of Information and Public Communication of the Ministry of Communication and Information, Usman Kansong in his Keynote Speech saying that Kominfo as ex-officio, has socialized and publicized the Dekranas breakthrough in terms of preservation of national cultural handicraft products including wastra cloth or woven wastra.

"We hope that this collaboration can be maintained and will take place from this month until later in August 2022 when the Ministry of Communication and Information becomes Campaign Manager for Gernas BBI based in Papua province," he said.

The activity was attended by the Daily Chair of Dekranas, Ms. Tito Karnavian, Head of Dekranas Funding, Ms. Elizabeth Thohir and Head of Partnership, Ms. Juliana Sigit Prabowo and was also positively welcomed by 355 online participants and 100 participants who attended offline at this activity.

Chairperson of the Bali Province Dekranasda, Putri Koster, who was present on the occasion conveyed the commitment of the Bali Province Dekranasda to protect and preserve the cultural heritage in the form of Balinese Endek Fabrics which are produced by weavers in Bali manually using non-machine looms and cagcag. Therefore, it is necessary to provide guidance and supervision in the production process from upstream to downstream.

"Keep surviving and preserving it. Even though we continue to innovate products, we also maintain the originality of the product so that it exists," said Putri Koster.

The Chairperson of the Bali Province Dekranasda Putri Koster invited the resource persons to see the Wastra UMKM exhibition space at the Werdhi Budaya Art Center. (Ist Photo)

One of the efforts of Dekranasda Bali in helping these craftsmen is to provide exhibition space, one of which is at the Werdhi Budaya Art Center. The area which has an area of about 5 hectares is a center for cultural preservation as well as a showroom for craftsmen including wastra in Bali which is also a center for tourist visits.

The Head of the KEKDA Implementation Team, Bank Indonesia Bali, Beny Okta Tutuarima said that Bank Indonesia Bali Province continues to facilitate both through technical assistance, facilities and infrastructure assistance to increase capacity, digital access in collaboration with several marketplaces, MSME onboarding development, as well as financing and promotion facilities.

“At the end of last May, we held a 'Indonesian Creative Work' activity in Jakarta which featured all MSMEs fostered by Bank Indonesia and alhamdulillah Bali wastra products recorded the second highest sales. This proves that this product is very popular even though it is sold outside Bali,” concluded Beny.

The Chairperson of Advanced Indonesian Women (PIM), Lana T. Koentjoro told of the activities carried out by Advanced Indonesian Women in empowering women MSME actors, such as holding trainings and collaborating with various parties to strengthen the capacity and quality of MSMEs.

“So everyone is collaborating with each other, we call it 'Pang Pada Payu', and we are very happy with the spirit of PIM Bali who really helps the center so that there are lots of activities that we can do here”, said Lana.

The owner of Batik Trusmi as well as Member of the Promotion and Public Relations Division of Dekranas, Sally Giovanny said that as an entrepreneur, it is not only a strategy that must be developed, but also how to build a product identity so that it is known to a wide audience. "The characteristics of a product are very important. The key is authentic and must be consistent," said Sally.

"The meaning and story behind the cloth is no less important to display attractive visuals using models," added Angger Alfi Zakki, SME Sales Channel Blibli.

With this collaboration, the Ministry of Communication and Informatics and Dekranas are expected to be able to help and optimize MSMEs so that they can produce quality products that are popular with the market.