Boost Regional Economies, Deputy Minister of Home Affairs Urges Local Governments to Speed Up MSME Digitisation

According to him, accelerating the digitisation of MSMEs is a strategic step to ensure local products not only have added value but can also reach wider markets and align with the consumption patterns of the current generation.

‘Taking into account how we penetrate modern algorithms through digital marketing, asking young people to innovate and be creative so they can enter their markets,’ said Bima in his statement, Wednesday (20/5/2026).

He spoke during the event Appreciation of High-Achieving Regional Governments in the Regional Nusa Tenggara and Maluku 2026, which was held in conjunction with the NTB Province MSME Bazaar in Lombok, NTB, on Tuesday (19/5).

Moreover, Bima Arya explained that strengthening the MSME sector requires integrated innovation support, especially to address various challenges faced by business actors.

He outlined that these challenges include limitations in production technology that remains conventional and weak managerial capacity in business management, including separating personal and business finances.

Therefore, he stressed that regional heads together with all levels of local government must be able to present innovative strategies to strengthen the local economy base while also increasing Pendapatan Asli Daerah (PAD) – Original Regional Revenue.

‘This is one of the main duties of regional heads and their administrations: to think hard about innovating to boost PAD and economic growth,’ he added.

Additionally, Bima also views cross-sector synergy as a key to building a competitive MSME ecosystem. He noted that collaboration between the Local Government, the Regional National Craft Council (Dekranasda), the Family Welfare Empowerment (PKK), and local communities is important to curate flagship products so that they have distinctive characteristics, maintained quality, and can compete in national and digital markets.

Bima also expressed his optimism about the large local potential in NTB, especially Lombok. He said that the wealth of local products could grow substantially if supported by the right and innovative marketing strategy.

‘In NTB, in Lombok I see great potential, not just in fabrics, but many culinary products as well that should be able to compete,’ he concluded. (ega/ega)