Teten Calls IB Summit Declaration A Tolok Ukur Business Inclusive In ASEAN

Coordinating Minister for SMEs Teten Masduki at the 6Th ASEAN Inclusive Business Summit 2023 event in Nusa Dua, Bali (Photo: Theresia Agatha/VOI)

BALI - Minister of Cooperatives and SMEs (Menkop UKM) Teten Masduki said that the 2023 ASEAN Inclusive Business (IB) Declaration, which is the Ministry of Cooperatives and SMEs as the host, could be a benchmark for organizing similar activities in the future.

"Yes, the ideas we discussed in the 6th IB Summit can be well received. In fact, they (UN ESCAP and ASEAN) said they would be used as benchmarks, the best one," said Minister Teten when met after holding a bilateral meeting with UN ESCAP in the Nusa Dua area, Bali, on Thursday, August 24.

Menteri Teten mengatakan, Indonesia dalam konsultasi dengan ASEAN Coordinating Committee on Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, dan dukungan dari United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific dan Organisasi for Economic Co-operation and Development, serta dari World Benchmarking Alliance, telah mengembangkan " Rencana Aksi untuk Promotion Bisnis Inclusif di ASEAN (2023-2027)".

The Action Plan in the form of documents outlines priority areas brought to the Inclusive Business agenda in ASEAN. After exchanging experiences on efforts to promote inclusive business in their respective countries, the ASEAN delegation agreed to adopt a Joint Statement of the Minister on "Declaration on Promotion of Inclusive Business Models: Empowering MSMEs for Fair Growth".

Therefore, in a meeting with UN ESCAP, Teten suggested that the Inclusive Business (IB) agenda be focused on agricultural and food supply chains (supply food), because ASEAN has the potential to become an agricultural production center for this.

"We spoke with UNESCAP so that the idea of IB Summit is continued in Laos, so that this is truly an economic development in the region (ASEAN)," said Teten.

Teten said, there are several important notes for the agricultural sector, including institutional structure and access to financing. On the institutional side of the institutional sector, small farmers must be changed from individual farmers to farmer collectives.

"For farmers' collectives with experience in Indonesia, India, Thailand have started with cooperatives and non-cooperations. However, it must also be supported by government policies in every country," he said.

Meanwhile, in terms of financing, Indonesia and other countries in Southeast Asia have had a lot of cheap financing for micro-scale businesses. Even so, there is not much financing for aggregators like cooperatives.

"For middle man, aggregators such as cooperatives do not yet have cheap financing, even though this is a middle man buying from farmers, they must be sold again to the market, both domestic and foreign buyers. The financing scheme that needs to be discussed is also discussed," he added.