Coordinating Minister: Collaboration Key to Strengthening Locally Based Economy

Coordinating Minister for Community Empowerment Muhaimin Iskandar has stated that collaboration among stakeholders is the key to strengthening the locally based economy and promoting community self-reliance through the development of export-oriented regions. “More productive collaboration creates an ecosystem capable of developing the potential of natural resources and locally based economic actors, so they have stronger competitiveness,” he said at the launch of the Integrated Community Empowerment Ecosystem Pilot Project Based on Export Zones in Cilongok District, Banyumas Regency, Central Java, on Thursday. According to him, the programme is designed to build an integrated empowerment ecosystem from upstream to downstream by utilising local potential, particularly in the agriculture, livestock, and export commodity sectors. Muhaimin said collaboration between the government, universities, the business world, and the community is needed to accelerate region-based economic transformation while overcoming various obstacles faced by local business actors. Therefore, the government is encouraging the utilisation of local resources through various innovations, including the implementation of a circular economy. “Dependence on imports must be ended. It is indeed not easy to change the pattern that has so far relied on imported goods, but we must start building self-reliance by utilising the potential we have,” he said. He assessed that Indonesia has a great opportunity to realise economic self-reliance because it is supported by abundant natural resources. This potential needs to be strengthened through research, innovation, and technological development that can increase the productivity of the agricultural sector and community enterprises.