West Papua enhances MSME capacity to produce export products
Manokwari (ANTARA) - The West Papua Provincial Industry and Trade Office (Disperindag) is enhancing the capacity of micro, small, and medium enterprise (MSME) actors through technical guidance to produce creative and competitive export products.
Governor of West Papua Dominggus Mandacan in Manokwari on Tuesday said that increasing the capacity of MSME actors is a strategic step to strengthen the regional economic sector, particularly through the development of foreign trade.
“The development of MSME products will run optimally if business actors have the ability to process and create high-value products,” said Dominggus.
According to him, West Papua has great potential from various flagship commodities such as fisheries, forestry, to processed products based on natural resources, which are considered capable of competing with other products in the global market.
This potential must be supported by the capabilities of each business actor to improve product quality, expand market access through the utilisation of digital technology, and financial management.
“Many MSME actors still face obstacles, starting from limited infrastructure, logistics, and minimal understanding of export products,” he said.
Head of West Papua Disperindag Bondan Santoso explained that the implementation of the technical guidance aims to enhance the ability of business actors in creating increasingly innovative, creative, and highly competitive products.
The technical guidance featured a number of resource persons from various agencies, including export product standardisation experts from the Ministry of Trade, representatives from Bank Indonesia, academics, and the Manokwari Customs Office.
“The activity participants consist of MSME actors in Manokwari and representatives from several districts in West Papua,” said Bondan.
He hopes that through capacity building, MSME actors will not only be able to survive in the local market but also develop into exporters capable of competing in the international market and contributing to regional economic growth.
“MSME actors are also equipped with understanding related to export procedures and regulations so they can meet international market standards,” said Bondan.