MSMEs Ministry Collaborates with Facebook Groups to Empower National MSMEs

Ministry of Cooperatives, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) cooperates with Facebook Groups which includes Facebook, Instagram, and Whatsapp to accelerate the digitalization of MSMEs in Indonesia.

“There are still numerous MSMEs who have not yet joined the marketplace. Therefore, with this cooperation, we will encourage them to sell their products on social media such as Facebook, Instagram, and Whatsapp,” said Minister of MSMEs Teten Masduki to reporters in Jakarta, Wednesday (29/7).

According to Teten, the measure was taken to follow the future market trends. “MSMEs can utilize social media channels to expand market access, both domestic and abroad,” Teten explained.

In addition, Teten continued, digitization will make it easier for MSMEs to get access to financing. “Their trade transactions will be recorded properly, so that their business performance can be more transparent,” said the Minister.

He went on to say that with digitalization, the business process of MSME entrepreneurs will be more accountable. “So, they can get greater investment value,” said Teten.

In the meantime, Managing Director of Marketing Services Institute (LLP) Leonard Theosabrata who serves as the Manager of Smesco Indonesia said that his party had cooperated with the Facebook Group in terms of trainings.

“The trainings are aimed to help MSMEs selling their products in various marketplaces to further increase market access,” Leonard said.

However, he stressed that there are different treatments for each MSME actor. “We cannot give similar treatment to all of them as they have different aspects, including business scale and others,” said Leonard.

Meanwhile, Head of Public Policy for Facebook Indonesia Ruben Hattari said that Facebook’s cooperation with Ministry of MSMEs and several marketplaces is expected to accelerating the economic recovery of the MSMEs.

“Because MSMEs are the backbone of the country’s economy. The COVID-19 pandemic gives big challenge for all MSMEs,” Ruben said, adding that Facebook had conducted virtual training for 85 thousand MSMEs throughout Indonesia.

“In the next six months to one year, we will conduct training for 15 thousand MSMEs under the auspices of Smesco Indonesia,” Ruben concluded. (Public Relations of Ministry of Cooperatives and Small and Medium Enterprises/EN)

Translated by: Estu Widyamurti
Reviewed by: Yuyu Mulyani