Surabaya's SMEs Export Value at SIL Festival 2026 Reaches US$2.73 Million

The Surabaya City Government has officially closed the Surabaya Industrial & Labour (SIL) Festival 2026 with outstanding results. The export value of small and medium-sized industries (SMEs) in Surabaya reached USD 2.73 million, far exceeding the initial target of USD 1 million.

This event, which combined a job fair and international business matching, was held at the Grand City Convention Hall in Surabaya on Wednesday (8/4). The festival, supported and facilitated by Performa Event Expertindo, aligns with President Prabowo Subianto’s policies emphasising the strengthening of domestic industry and the expansion of export markets.

Surabaya Mayor Eri Cahyadi described this achievement as concrete evidence of the consistent vitality of local industry each year.

“Many people ask, how is the movement of industry in Surabaya? Today we have proven it. The total exported today reached 2.7 million US dollars. This is a very large figure and far exceeds what we targeted,” said Eri in a written statement on Monday (13/4/2026).

“The total exported value is 2.73 million US dollars. This shows that Surabaya’s industry is not stagnant, it keeps thriving and moving forward,” he added.

Surabaya’s SME products successfully reached six export destination countries, including Oman, the United States, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Brunei Darussalam.

“Insyaallah, there are six destination countries. The prospects are extraordinary,” Eri added.

In addition to the export achievements, 36 SMEs were recorded as having upgraded their status. The city government ensures it will continue to encourage this through mentoring and using them as models for business development.

“Alhamdulillah, at this time there are also 36 SMEs that have upgraded. This is what we will continue to boost. Later, we will use them as examples of that movement,” he emphasised.

SMEs that have successfully penetrated export markets will also be involved as mentors for other business actors.

“Later, those who have succeeded in exporting will become mentors for our younger siblings, our children, our brothers and sisters who will carry out exports,” Eri added.

The city government is also preparing a more systematic export mentoring scheme, particularly to encourage the involvement of the younger generation.

“So we think that the children today, friends, or our brothers and sisters who want to export no longer have any worries. Later, there will be mentoring that we will carry out in collaboration with the relevant parties in this field,” he said.

Eri emphasised the role of the city government as a promoter and facilitator, not the main actor in economic development.

“The most important thing is what we have been doing all this time, the city government supports, the city government promotes, it has been running and proven. Because the government is not always at the forefront,” he stated.

On the employment side, the SIL Festival also recorded significant absorption. Around 1,200 vacancies were filled by Surabaya residents with local ID cards through the job fair held in parallel at Balai Pemuda.

“Alhamdulillah, matur nuwun (thank you) to the companies, because the Job Fair at Balai Pemuda yesterday accepted 1,200 workers for vacancies who have Surabaya ID cards,” Eri said.

Head of the Surabaya Employment and Transmigration Office (Disperinaker) Hebi Djuniantoro explained that the 36 SMEs declared ready for export were selected from around 80 registrants through a coaching clinic on 30-31 March 2026 together with the Surabaya Export Center (ECS) of the Ministry of Trade of the Republic of Indonesia.

“After thorough curation, we found 36 companies (PT/SMEs) that were truly ready for export and were directly matched with buyers,” Hebi revealed.

Export transactions were also supported by the presence of buyers from various countries, both in person and online, all resulting in purchase commitments through Letters of Intent (LoI).

“There are three countries connected online, namely from Singapore, Oman, and Hong Kong. The results were extraordinary, all buyers, both those present in person and online, made purchases. The total transactions recorded in Letters of Intent reached 2.7 million US dollars,” he explained.

Hebi emphasised that the SIL Festival is not just a transaction event, but is also expected to impact employment absorption as SME businesses scale up.

“Because we have upgraded the business actors, the impact we expect is the absorption of new labour. That’s why in this event we also held a job fair simultaneously,” he said.

From the job fair side, Disperinaker recorded around 3,000 registrants participating in the selection, with 1,920 participants advancing to interviews and psychological tests.

“We hope more than 1,000 workers with Surabaya ID cards can be accepted and placed in companies according to their respective abilities,” he hoped.

Looking ahead, the Surabaya City Government together with related stakeholders will compile a strategic plan in the form of vocational training and export mentoring to improve the quality of human resources.

“In the future, we will certainly collaborate with many parties to resolve unemployment issues in Surabaya City,” Hebi explained.

CEO of Performa Optima Group Stefanus Sugeng Irawan assessed this festival as a collaborative platform that brings together innovation and real opportunities for industrial and employment development.

“The Surabaya Industrial & Labour Festival 2026 is a real manifestation of our commitment to driving adaptive and inclusive industrial transformation,” said Sugeng.

He also emphasised that cross-sector synergy is a key factor in addressing global challenges, while opening new spaces for improving the competitiveness of local workers.

“We believe that cross-sector collaboration is the main key to facing global challenges, while opening new opportunities for local workers to be more competitive,” he concluded.