Jakarta, The Indonesia Post – The Minister of Cooperatives and SMEs (MenKopUKM) Teten Masduki, together with the Indonesian Ambassador to Switzerland and Liechtenstein, Muliaman Hadad, inaugurated the Indonesia Trading House or ITH which took place at the Pasar Indonesia store in Aargau, Switzerland.
MenKopUKM Teten Masduki, in a statement received in Jakarta, Tuesday, gave high appreciation for the efforts to establish ITH in Switzerland, especially because it opened up opportunities for Indonesian MSME products to enter foreign markets.
“I think now with the digital market it will also be quite easy to help sell Indonesian products through the diaspora network, as long as there is a warehouse with regular suppliers,” said Minister Teten.
Minister Teten also paid attention to the use of digital market platforms or marketplaces for marketing Indonesian MSME products as well as connectivity with the ITH network, the Indonesian diaspora, and the domestic market.
According to him, there are many MSME products that ITH can form collaboration with, MSME products that have been accepted by the domestic market, such as those sold at Mbloc, Post bloc and Sarinah.
“Later on, we can work together with ITH, so we can take advantage of the online network. The government is also pushing the sale of spices, so we are no longer selling the spices anymore. What we will export will be spices, not spices,” he said.
Minister Teten further said that the inauguration of the establishment of ITH was a follow-up to the signing of the establishment of ITH which was officially signed by the Chairman of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Arsyad Rasyid on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum event on 24 May 2022.
Ambassador Muliaman hopes that the inauguration of ITH in Aargau, Switzerland can be a door for the flow of Indonesian products, both food and non-food products, to the Swiss and European markets.
“Indonesia must think about and take advantage of Switzerland’s opportunities as a hub for the door of Indonesian products to the European market, especially by utilizing the issue of tariffs in the Indonesia-EFTA CEPA Agreement,” said Ambassador Muliaman.
Meanwhile, Deputy Chairperson for Coordinator I, KADIN Indonesia, Yukki Nugrahawan Hanafi said that this ITH was the first in Europe and would continue to be developed. He also appreciates the support from the Indonesian Embassy in Bern and the Indonesian Ministry of Trade.
“We also understand that the issue of relatively high logistics costs is the main concern of the Indonesian diaspora. Hopefully, we can find solutions together regarding the logistics issue in question. The Indonesia-EFTA CEPA agreement that has been reached also needs to be put to good use, especially regarding tariffs,” said Waketum. Coordinator I KADIN Yukki. (mhn/bbs)
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