MSME Minister synergises cross-sectoral MSME empowerment programmes

Minister of Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) Maman Abdurrahman has stated that he is working to synergise MSME empowerment and service programmes that are spread across various sectors.

“Through the Prokesra (Pro Kesejahteraan Rakyat) programme, we have consolidated nearly 20 ministries and agencies related to the synergy and integration of MSME programmes,” Maman said in Jakarta on Monday.

Maman said that the challenge of providing services and empowerment for MSMEs is considerable, as they are spread across almost all ministries, agencies, provincial governments and even regencies/cities.

For this reason, Maman added, his ministry is seeking to synergise these efforts so that programmes for MSME players can be easily accessed and their benefits felt by all.

“This means that one of our challenges is how we can synergise, consolidate and integrate programmes spread across all ministries, provinces and regencies/cities so that they can be properly integrated,” he said.

Maman mentioned that he has consolidated a number of MSME-related programmes with relevant agencies by signing cooperation agreements to make things easier for MSMEs.

In addition, he said, his ministry is also working to synergise legality and certification matters, which to date have still not been easily accessible to MSMEs.

“We are also working to provide marketing and digital access because this remains a challenge. And the last one is access to financing,” he added.

Furthermore, Maman said, ministries and agencies have also agreed to build a common understanding and integration of technology utilisation, especially the Sapa UMKM system that has already been developed.

“This system will later become a single system for providing integrated services to all micro, small, and medium enterprises across our country,” he said.