Menparekraf: Tourism And Creative Economy Sectors Can Open 1.1 Million Jobs

Sandiaga Uno (Photo via Antara)

Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy (Menparekraf) Sandiaga Uno said the tourism sector and the creative economy (parekraf) had created 1.1 million jobs in 2022.

"In 2024, we are targeting this sector to create 4.4 million jobs. On board parekraf MSMEs can also have opportunities for export," Sandiaga said at the opening of BRI MSME Expo (rt) to celebrate 2022 at the Jakarta Convention Center, Thursday 15 December.

According to him, MSME exports are still dominated by fashion and furniture products, while Indonesian culinary products are still lagging behind despite having various advantages.

"To raise the percentage of MSME exports, I think the Indonesia Spice Up The World program launched in Dubai last year needs to be done carefully to encourage culinary exports," he said, quoted by Antara.

On the same occasion, he also appreciated Bank Rakyat Indonesia (BRI) for holding a business matching at BRI UMKM Expo (rt) in 2022 and has produced an export contract with a value of 76.6 million US dollars or IDR 1.2 trillion.

In the future, MSMEs that are able to produce up to 97 percent of job opportunities in Indonesia are considered necessary to continue to improve the quality of their employment opportunities, by going up in class, for example micro-enterprises need to be pushed up into small businesses.

On the same occasion, Minister of Cooperatives and Small and Medium Enterprises (Menkop UKM) Teten Masduki said that MSME exports still need to be encouraged because the percentage is still lower than other countries.

"We are targeting MSME exports to reach 17 percent of total exports by 2024. Today it is only 15.65 percent or still lower than Malaysia which was 17.3 percent, South Korea 19.7 percent, and Thailand 28.7 percent," he said.