Saudi Arabia's Tembus, Minister Of Trade Zulhas Apart From Exporting Prime Minister 22 Food Products For MSMEs

Minister of Trade (Mendag) Zulkifli Hasan released 22 processed food products from MSMEs to Saudi Arabia, on Friday, February 10. Photo: Theresia Agatha/VOI

BEKASI - Minister of Trade (Mendag) Zulkifli Hasan released the first export of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) products in the form of 22 processed food products brand Heldas Snack produced by PT Safeline Indonesia to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, in Bekasi, West Java, on Friday, February 10.

This export release is a collaboration between the Ministry of Trade, PT Pos Indonesia Persero, PT Pos Logistik Indonesia, and the Indonesian Gemilang Insan Foundation (BIG).

"This activity is a follow-up to the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) at the 37th Indonesia Trade Expo event on October 20, 2022. I hope that the export of MSME products to Jeddah is now a real step in increasing the export value of Indonesian commodities to Saudi Arabia," said Trade Minister Zulkifli Hasan.

"It is a matter of pride for us because 22 products exported today have also been registered with the Saudi Food and Drug Authority," he added.

The value of processed food products exported reaches around 454,000 US Dollars. The products include scathing jengkol, orange leaf bile, spicy sebrak, original sneading, guberngangang, fried tempeh, orange leaf tempeh, balayo sticks, milknuts, Balinese beans, Balinese gibbos, sweet Balinese, atomic ovens, field beans, sucro beans, empir, spicy beans, fried garlic, fried shallots, and popcorn.

According to Zulkifli Hasan or often called Zulhas, to become a successful exporter, many aspects are needed, such as improving product quality and quality, increasing added value and I compete, and developing human resources (HR). "MSMEs that succeeded in exporting today are MSMEs that have gone through these several stages. This proves that exports can be done by anyone, including MSMEs," he said.

On the same occasion, the Director General of National Export Development of the Ministry of Trade Didi Sumedi said Saudi Arabia is an important country for Indonesia to open new market access in non-traditional countries, especially the Middle East region.

"Produk makanan merupakan komoduk prima donna ekspor Indonesia, tak terkecuali Arab Saudi. nilai ekspor Indonesia untuk produk makanan olahan ke Arab Saudi tahun 2022 mengalami pertumbuhan positif lebih dari 40 persen dengan produk utama ekspor olahan fish, kasi dan olahannya, anam berkapa bisau, soyak, dan olahan pasta," jelas Didi.

Meanwhile, PT Pos Indonesia's director of courier and Logistics Business, Siti Khoiriana, said that her party will always help provide services for MSME players, one of which is by opening new market access.

"Pos Indonesia services can be accessed throughout Indonesia. We also collaborate with stakeholders, so that Pos Indonesia has a fleet on land, sea and air routes. We hope that the better and more efficient Indonesian logistics will help SMEs in opening new access, both domestically and internationally," he explained.

Not only that, BIG Indonesia coach Wisnu Wiraatmadja Effendi also said that his party would consistently continue to provide assistance and innovation development for the acceleration of halal, as well as the progress of Indonesian MSMEs with the spirit carried, namely going digital, going retail, and going exports.

"To support the export acceleration program launched by the Ministry of Trade, BIG Indonesia together with PT Pos Indonesia and PT Pos Logistik will also provide free facilities to MSMEs for halal products in the form of warehouse areas and assistance through the sustainable program 'Joint Marketing House' (Indonesian Halal SMEs Joint Marketing House)," added Wisnu.

"This facility is expected to be used by halal MSME business actors to store goods before the delivery process as well as get product standardization assistance and assistance in access to retail and export marketing," he concluded.

For your information, the total trade between Indonesia and Saudi Arabia reached 7.51 billion US Dollars throughout 2022. The trade trend between the two countries continues to show an increase with Indonesia's non-oil and gas exports reaching 2.01 billion US dollars and imports of 911.3 million US dollars.