Coordinating Minister for Community Empowerment Urges UMKM to Upscale Through the Jejak Jajanan Nusantara Festival
Coordinating Minister for Community Empowerment Muhaimin Iskandar emphasised the importance of collaboration among various parties in driving micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to move up a level through the Jejak Jajanan Nusantara Festival. The programme is seen as a model of cooperation involving the government, state-owned enterprises (BUMN), communities, and micro, small and medium businesses.
‘I am very proud and grateful. Jejak Jajanan Nusantara has so far served as the pilot for a collaboration model that brings together various parties to support each other and revive micro, small and medium enterprises,’ Muhaimin said at the festival’s opening on Friday 6 March.
According to him, the festival not only showcases the culinary riches of traditional dishes suitable for Ramadan, but also opens space for MSMEs to utilise government assets that have not been optimally used.
The main programme, Pasar 1001 Malam, aims to ensure that government facilities at the central and regional levels, as well as state-owned enterprises, ministries and agencies that have strategic locations yet have not functioned optimally, are better utilised by MSMEs to grow and develop.
He noted that many public assets have not been utilised to their full potential, whereas micro businesses, cooperatives, and the micro segment need spaces to meet consumers and develop creative economy products.
Muhaimin added that people empowerment is part of a new paradigm in the government’s way of working, namely pushing entrepreneurs to continuously upgrade.
‘Empowerment, as a paradigm in the government’s new approach to governance, requires pushing entrepreneurs to keep moving up a level. They are the economic force that directly contributes to the welfare of the people,’ he said.
He also highlighted the role of home-based entrepreneurs, including housewives who are the breadwinners of family economies. He said this group possesses strong economic resilience and has proven capable of withstanding various conditions.
Furthermore, he viewed Jejak Jajanan Nusantara as part of efforts to preserve Indonesia’s culinary traditions while popularising creative economy products. A variety of traditional foods were showcased at the festival, such as Selendang Mayang and Kerak Telor, symbols of Nusantara cultural fusion.
‘Jejak Jajanan Nusantara is not only about cuisine but also about preserving tradition while popularising creative economy products so they can be enjoyed and promoted widely,’ he said.
Muhaimin hopes the programme can be expanded to various regions in Indonesia so more MSMEs participate and gain market opportunities.
‘We want Jejak Jajanan Nusantara to grow in many places across Indonesia, involving more entrepreneurs so it becomes a shared asset and a chance for all to grow,’ he said.
He stressed that the state must be present as the enabling actor that opens access and facilitates development, while the private sector, communities, and MSMEs become the driving forces that reinforce one another,’ he concluded.