Jakarta, October 15 – Based on data compiled in 2016 Indonesia has around 59 million Small and Micro Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) which contribute 61% to the economy. It is targeted that by 2020 Indonesia will become the largest digital economy in Southeast Asia.
Representative of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce (KADIN) Ariful Yakin Hidayat in a discussion on Entrepreneurship, Cultural Markets and Local Product Policies, in the 2017 Penen Raya Nusantara (PARARA) Festival said creative products must be the pillars of the Indonesian economy. The biggest economic contributor currently comes from the culinary sector by 34%, then fashion and craft. Most of the export areas are centered on the island of Java, namely West Java, East Java and Banten. While for eastern Indonesia its potential is still not maximized, in other words “sleeping giant”.
“Indonesia’s natural wealth is abundant, but marketing is still weak in terms of language and technology use. Like the Philippines, which is the target market of Indonesia. Schools in the Philippines teach Indonesian. So that when they go abroad, they can more easily adjust themselves, “explained Ariful Yakin Hidayat.
Another thing that needs to be considered to support Indonesia’s creative industry is policies that favor local entrepreneurs. As seen in China where the Whatssup application was protected and they developed Kakao Talk as a chat feature used by the public. China has succeeded in utilizing technological progress as a connection between farmers / producers and business actors or investors. This is what is expected to be applied in Indonesia, where technology and progress can be fully utilized to support the local sector.
Furthermore, Ariful appealed to the Indonesian creative industry to implement 3C, namely CONNECT , by meeting industry players at UMKM exhibitions or other events, COLLABORATE which is having a connection and CONTRIBUTE , namely running a business or business not only chasing profit, but also share knowledge or useful information with others.
Various issues regarding the development of products and businesses from the community or creative entrepreneurs were also conveyed by several communities who were present on the occasion. The Nira Satria Cooperative, a producer of coconut sugar or ant sugar from Banyumas, also shared stories about the lack of security guarantees for farmers, weak prices to farmers’ attachment to middlemen / dyes. Ant sugar itself is claimed to be the best in Indonesia and has had organic certification since 2009 and has Fair Trade certification for exports abroad, including South Korea and Germany.
Iim Rusyamsi, Co-founder of Krafie.com shared stories about the importance of understanding understanding in the digital era for MSME actors. One of the information that MSME actors need to use digital technology is Google Analitycs that can provide information about what is currently a trend. “It is necessary to do education for MSME players so that these tools can be useful for developing and promoting their respective products,” continued Iim.
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