Trade Ministry Pushes SME Business Matching with Modern Retailers

Jakarta (ANTARA) – The Ministry of Trade (Kemendag) continues to push for business matching between local products and brands from small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to enter modern retail outlets such as department stores.

The Ministry is actively providing a wide range of business matching facilities with SMEs, said Dewi Rokhayati, Director of Domestic Product Marketing (P2DN) at Kemendag, in Jakarta on Thursday.

‘We are conducting business matching with modern retailers, such as Alun-Alun Indonesia — one of the department stores we need to fill with more Indonesian products,’ she added.

She explained that local products and brands that succeed in modern retail demonstrate that the products have high quality and competitiveness.

Therefore, improving brand quality and product quality up to brand awareness becomes crucial so that local products become better known in the domestic market before eventually making their way to international markets.

‘In other words, entering modern retail such as Alun-Alun Indonesia shows that the product has moved up a grade; it is good. And I believe what is already good domestically can be pushed for export,’ Dewi said.

Ari Satria, Director of Export Development for Services and Creative Products at Kemendag, added that the government fully supports efforts to broaden markets for local products or brands to compete on the global stage.

‘We at the Ministry of Trade will of course support the marketing of these locally rooted products so they can go global, and of course be known by Indonesian people themselves,’ Ari said.

In addition, he noted that Indonesia’s creative products, such as crafts and Nusantara textiles, currently have high potential and strong demand in global markets.

Furthermore, Ari said this shows that the global market remains very open to products based on design, lifestyle, and craftsmanship.

‘Moreover, the current global trend is increasingly towards products that are sustainable, made from natural materials, handmade, and with strong cultural storytelling,’ he said.