Jakarta, The Indonesia Post – Minister of Cooperatives and SMEs Teten Masduki said Indonesia must optimize the strength of the domestic economy by buying local products.
“Government/BUMN/local government spending, including public household consumption, must be optimized to buy domestic products. This will be able to drive economic growth,” he said during a press conference for the Affirmation of Proudly Made in Indonesia (BBI) in Nusa Dua, Bali, which was monitored virtually, Jakarta, Friday.
As is known, the allocation of government goods/services procurement must absorb 40 percent of local Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) products.
The obligation to optimize spending from the central and regional governments, ministries/agencies, and SOEs by 40 percent or Rp. 400 trillion is considered to encourage MSME actors to improve production quality and capacity.
In this case, the Government Goods/Services Procurement Policy Institute (LKPP) has simplified regulations in order to accelerate the absorption of domestic products by eliminating requirements that hinder these efforts.
President Joko Widodo’s affirmation to support the acceleration is also considered as a form of support that facilitates the process of absorbing MSME products to K/L/local governments.
“There is no longer anything that hinders the procurement of goods and services for MSMEs and will make it easier for Kemenkop-UKM,” said Minister Teten.
His party will focus on assisting and curating MSME products. In terms of financing, this is no longer a problem, so MSMEs are asked to focus on producing in large quantities.
The Ministry of Cooperatives is stated to have made a list of imported products that can be replaced and produced domestically. The Coordinating Minister said that importers would be cooperated to shift production to the country.
“We have had discussions with importers and they can. I have asked what each ministry (and agency) is still importing for and can be made domestically,” he said.
As President Jokowi reminded, he said, public consumption through cross-border e-commerce needs to be a concern because there are still many who buy imported products.
Furthermore, Teten warned cross-border e-commerce to be wary of people selling imported products, but on behalf of local MSMEs.
“Before the (COVID-19) pandemic, 52 percent of Indonesia’s economy was driven by public consumption. So it takes a commitment to e-commerce to rely on the domestic economy, not only the government, SOEs, and local governments, but the community and e-commerce,” said the Coordinating Minister. (mhn/bbs)
Comment