Two Prabowo Ministers Unveil Strategy to Elevate MSMEs, Here's How

Ministers in President Prabowo Subianto’s cabinet have made a significant push for business actors across the country. To commemorate the 2026 National Entrepreneurship and MSME Day, the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises organised the ‘Bursa Wirausaha Unggulan’ (Leading Entrepreneur Exchange). The 2026 Leading Entrepreneur Exchange serves as a collaborative platform, bringing together MSMEs, entrepreneurs, aspiring entrepreneurs, educational institutions, financial service institutions, business incubators, corporations, and the government within a single integrated ecosystem to grow and develop together. Minister of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, Maman Abdurrahman, stated that his ministry is intensifying coaching and empowerment efforts to create many competent young entrepreneurs. This is realised through the Leading Entrepreneur Exchange programme, through which the Ministry aims to support business actors in developing their businesses from upstream to downstream. ‘The goal, of course, is to increase our entrepreneurship ratio and create young and new entrepreneurs, and secondly, to boost labour absorption,’ he said during a press conference for the event in Jakarta. He noted that if the government can create several leading entrepreneurs in the country, the resulting labour absorption and multiplier effect will be much broader. Maman also affirmed the government’s role in advancing entrepreneurship through the exchange by providing training programmes, empowerment, and mentoring to prepare for legalities, business certification, and financial management. This includes mentoring for entrepreneurs to access financing and improve marketing. Furthermore, the Leading Entrepreneur Exchange aligns with the President’s directive regarding a programme to produce 10 million entrepreneurs capable of absorbing significant manpower by 2029. ‘We are targeting that. Hopefully, this effort can continue. Currently, it is still in the Greater Jakarta area; later, this Exchange will be in other regions. The government’s commitment today is to build 10 million entrepreneurs and new business actors, so they become a national economic force,’ Maman explained. Meanwhile, Coordinating Minister for Community Empowerment, Muhaimin Iskandar, explained that the government remains committed to encouraging MSMEs to grow and move up in class. This effort is expected to spur an increase in the number of new entrepreneurs. ‘For example, this coconut ice cream has moved up in class. What is most important is what the President and the government are doing today to ensure that economic growth can be contributed to and enjoyed by our MSMEs. That is what is called a constitutionally just economy,’ he stated. Additionally, Cak Imin noted that the issuance of Government Regulation No. 20 of 2026, which regulates a single-window export policy, is believed to create an ecosystem supporting downstreaming so that MSME actors will ultimately enjoy the positive benefits of this policy. He stressed that the Leading Entrepreneur Exchange programme is an opportunity to generate quality growth in the MSME sector and spur the creation of a just economic system.