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Risdiana Wiryatni: MSMEs Must Innovate to Be Competitive

March 31st, 2023

 

 Reported by: PO

Written by: Jgd / Editor

 

Risdiana Wiryatni: MSMEs Must Innovate to Be Competitive

 

Jakarta (ANN)  – Today, Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises [MSMEs] continue to grow. Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises play an important role in Indonesia’s economic growth. This is because this group of MSMEs has the largest number compared to other business units.
Based on data from the Investment Coordinating Board, MSMEs have contributed to GDP, which is 61.97% of the total national GDP or equivalent to IDR 8,500 trillion in 2020.
Executive Director of Strategi Foundation, Risdiana Wiryatni, said that the existence of MSMEs is able to absorb 97% of the workforce. The vital role of MSMEs makes governments in various regions always try to accommodate and provide support for the progress of MSMEs.
“We all know that MSMEs are the pillars of the national economy, and have proven to be able to survive in the midst of crisis shocks. MSMEs must continue to be developed, we must continue to encourage and strengthen them,” Risdiana said through a statement in Jakarta, Friday, March 31, 2023.
Risdiana said, as the driving force of the economy, MSMEs are very diverse business units. Starting from traveling sellers to home industries.
“The momentum of the stretching of MSMEs certainly needs to be maintained so that the existence of this sector continues to contribute to efforts to alleviate poverty and the formation of economic independence. Although the threat of a global recession is not predicted to be too massive, strengthening the resilience of MSMEs is still important considering that most Indonesians depend on this sector for their livelihoods,” he said.
“Therefore, there are several issues that must be addressed by the government in encouraging these MSMEs to be more independent in terms of production, marketing, access to technology, finance and the MSME development ecosystem. Classic problems in the MSME sector remain homework for the government because so far the policies have never been carried out comprehensively,” he said.
The leader of Kinerjaekselen added, from the production aspect, the development of the MSME sector must be oriented towards market driven so that MSME products can be absorbed into the market.
“Many MSME players are able to make products but cannot be sold to the market. There should be a paradigm shift in MSME development from subsistence to upscale MSMEs. Then, product innovations must be developed following market developments so that the competitiveness of MSME products can be maintained. As Mr. Mario said, MSME products must be saleable and accepted by the market, people are interested in buying, buy again and keep buying,” she said.
Meanwhile, from the marketing aspect, said Risdiana, marketing development strategies and innovations need to be continuously developed. Marketing digitization, which is very developed in the Covid pandemic era, needs to be further optimized because many market place models, community-based e-commerce have finally died out because there is no attention from the government.
“These online shopping models should actually be directed to a shopping model that is managed collectively so that it will bring mutual prosperity. Therefore, digital literacy for MSME players must also be intensified. However, beyond the use of digital technology, strengthening marketing networks, improving product standardization and certification needs to be developed. The concept of sharing economy by encouraging linkages between the traditional and modern sectors is an indispensable strategy so that the traditional market sector and the modern sector do not continue to be contradicted,” Risdiana explained.
According to Risdiana, these efforts can actually be done by implementing a policy of providing sales places for MSME products in each modern shopping center. This strategy must be carried out so that the traditional sector and the modern sector can develop hand in hand.
Meanwhile, increasing access to technology for MSME players can be done by strengthening the role of business incubator institutions both owned by the government and universities, as well as other institutions such as the UMKM Naik Kelas Community, which has been committed to providing education to MSME players in the country.
“Through the role of these institutions, I believe the functions of empowering MSMEs will run well,” he said.
Regarding the capital aspect, Risdiana said, financial institutions are needed that are able to provide guaranteed access to good capital for the community. The government must encourage banking institutions to be able to provide easy access for MSME players and be able to carry out intermediary functions for them.
In addition, he said, outside of banking financial institutions, microfinance institutions need to optimize their role so that they are truly able to reach the poorest communities and MSME players. Therefore, the existence of cooperatives, Village-Owned Enterprises needs to be further empowered to help this.
Risdiana added, equally important, the important thing that must be done is how to encourage a better MSME development ecosystem. So far, the patterns of MSME development carried out are still partial and integration among stakeholders is still weak. The implication is that many policies are often inconsistent and overlapping. ” If this is not addressed, the development of MSMEs will remain static and will not be able to advance. Therefore, it is necessary to synchronize MSME policies both at the top level and at the regional level, for example by developing a road map for MSME development. Support for the MSME development ecosystem must continue to be encouraged by strengthening policy and regulatory support, infrastructure and partnership networks,” he said.
“These strategies need to be carried out consistently so that the resilience of MSMEs can continue to be strengthened. Existing policies should be able to strengthen the potential of MSMEs instead of weakening them. Social capital, a high spirit of social solidarity, and good flexibility are examples of the potential of MSMEs that can be a bulwark against the impact of disasters and the threat of global recession,” he concluded.
[jgd/red]

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