Ministry of SMEs Partners with Aprindo to Expand Market Access for Micro Enterprises

Yogyakarta (ANTARA) - The Indonesian Ministry of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) is collaborating with the Indonesian Retailers Association (Aprindo) to market products from micro-enterprises in a bid to broaden their market access.

“This is a form of appreciation for micro-enterprises that have been producing, and of course, we are cooperating with the retail entrepreneurs’ association,” said Riza Damanik, Acting Deputy for Micro Enterprises at the Ministry of SMEs, after opening the Kumitra event at Teras Malioboro, Yogyakarta, on Friday evening.

He stated that the collaboration with Aprindo will be carried out over the next year, with the hope that SME players in various regions can take advantage of it to market their creative economy products.

“We are undertaking this one-year collaboration with the hope that SMEs whose production already meets the requirements in terms of quality, quantity, and continuity can participate,” he said.

Through this initiative, he added, it is hoped that SME products will gain easier entry into modern retail partners, with listing fees being waived.

“We hope this will provide convenience and incentives for our SMEs to obtain wider market access. This has already been implemented in several locations, and we now want to expand it further,” he said.

The commitment to collaborate with Aprindo was further strengthened by the signing of a cooperation agreement with the Ministry of SMEs on the sidelines of the Kumitra event opening.

“That is why we are collaborating with Aprindo, which accommodates around 500 modern retail partners nationwide. We hope this can become part of our joint effort to expand,” he said.

The Ministry of SMEs is also targeting this modern retail partnership to reach as many SME players as possible, considering that the small-scale industry sector is a focus of President Prabowo’s administration.