Kemenkop UKM Collaborates With South Korea To Develop MSMEs And Startups In Indonesia

Minister of Cooperatives and SMEs (MenKopUKM) Teten Masduki (second from the left). Photo: Doc. Kemenkop UKM

JAKARTA - Minister of Cooperatives and SMEs (Menkop UKM) Teten Masduki recently made a working visit to Seoul, South Korea. The goal is to hold a bilateral meeting with South Korean Minister of SMEs and Startups (MSS) Hong Jong-hak while attending the celebration of 50 years of diplomatic relations between South Korea and Indonesia.

Minister Teten said South Korea is a country that is a benchmark for developing MSMEs and startups. This can be seen from the startup ecosystem that is already very developing in South Korea.

According to him, Indonesia can learn a lot from South Korea because Indonesia is ranked 6th with the most startups in the world.

"We really appreciate the South Korean government for establishing good cooperation with Indonesia, this collaboration is very useful and we will continue in the future," said Minister Teten in a press release, Monday, May 29.

In addition, visits were also made to the Seoul Startup Hub, which is an institution founded by the Seoul City Government to support startup development.

This institution not only provides mentorship and financing programs for startups, but also provides technology facilities for startups to make product innovations according to market demand.

As an institution founded by the government, the Seoul Startup Hub also plays a role in building a startup ecosystem in terms of support for startups, as well as assisting the government in formulating appropriate policies for startup development.

During his visit, Minister Teten also had the opportunity to visit the INNOBIZ Association office to attend the Seminar Interim Reporting, which is one of the agendas in the implementation of the Knowledge Sharing Program (KSP). The KSP program is one of the cooperation programs currently being established between the Ministry of Cooperatives and the INNobiZ Association.

He also expressed his appreciation to INNOBIZ for collaborating with the Ministry of Law and Human Rights, as well as explaining several programs that are currently being implemented.

"Currently, Indonesia is preparing MSMEs to advance to class through the development of a business ecosystem, so that MSMEs can transform and advance to class. We are also encouraging digital transformation for 30 million MSMEs," said Teten.

Teten added, in developing the business ecosystem, several aspects that are currently the focus of the government, namely ease of doing business, market access, and technology support that need to be encouraged to produce high competitive MSME products.

"MSMEs and startups in Indonesia can learn from the success of South Korea (South Korea) with its Korean Wave phenomenon that deserves to be used as a benchmark in terms of creative economy development in Indonesia," he added.