Remarks of President of the Republic of Indonesia at the Opening Ceremony of UMKM Expo(rt) Brilianpreneur, Jakarta Convention Center, December 7, 2023

Bismillahirrahmanirrahim.

Assalamu’alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh,
Good morning,
May prosperity be upon us all,
Om Swastiastu,
Namo buddhaya,
Greetings of Virtue.

Distinguished Cabinet Ministers, CEO and members of Board of Directors and members of Board of Commissioners of Bank Rakyat Indonesia (BRI),
Distinguished entrepreneurs of Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs),
Ladies and gentlemen,

First of all, let me express my gratitude to entrepreneurs and partners of MSMEs for becoming the backbone our national economy. We are aware that 61 percent of our GDP is supported by MSMEs, micro businesses, small businesses, and medium businesses, and 97 percent of our total labor is absorbed by MSMEs.

Let me also extend my appreciation to this ‘Brilianpreneur’ event. I have seen that the products are very well curated. I have also seen beautiful packaging, good branding, and the most important thing, the excellent interaction between buyers and the MSMEs.

I hope that in the future the exhibition can be held on a bigger scale. I see that the items here are well organized, and the products displayed are well curated. We must continue to scale up our MSMEs. The MSMEs should go digital and go international. Surely the MSMEs must control the local market, but they must also control the export market and global market.

We need a lot of improvement. Exports of our MSMEs products are only 15.7 percent, still below Singapore (41 percent) and Thailand (29 percent).

Let me reiterate my message regarding financing. MSMEs financing must be made easier. Currently the share of banking loan to MSMEs is only 21 percent of the total existing loan, and the biggest lender is BRI. What is the exact number, Mr CEO? As much as 83 percent of the total loan is from BRI alone. Almost all of these micro businesses, small businesses and medium businesses are handled by BRI.

The share of MSMEs loan in Indonesia is 21%; it is lower than MSMEs loan in other countries, including China (65 percent), Japan (65 percent), and India (50 percent). I have ordered Minister of State-Owned Enterprises to work with central bank Bank Indonesia and the FSA to improve the regulations. Not all of our MSMEs have collateral assets, so we must take into account the business potential as well. The business with good potential should have access to the banking loan.

Let me also remind you that MSMEs products must always pay attention to market demand, and that the color, the design, as well as the packaging of the product must always be improved. We must upgrade our products to make them up to date and meet the market demand.

That concludes my remarks on this auspicious occasion. By saying bismillahirrahmanirrahim, I hereby oficially open Expo(rt) Brilianpreneur.

I thank you,
Wassalamu’alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh.

(RI/MUR)