Ministry of Industry to launch E-smart for SMEs, President pushes for digital economy

JAKARTA (TheInsiderStories) - The Ministry of Industry will roll out the E-smart portal for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to enhance capacity development of the digital platform for startup companies in Indonesia. The new portal is expected to boost SME’s export, as well as expanding market access and access to funding.

“E-smart for SMEs need to be developed so that it can showcase products, rather than simply being a reseller of products of other countries,” said Minister of Industry Airlangga Hartanto in a press statement.

“This program has a digital infrastructure design with the Palapa Ring backbone, Satellite BRI, and PLN. This means that it takes the internet and electricity. Then, it is integrated with the National Industrial Information System (SIINas) that we had for product guarantees, security, and standards, “said Airlangga. The program will be supported financial services, logistics, and marketing for the perpetrators of SMEs.

Ministry of Industry will also facilitate SME actors to collaborate with e-commerce in the country such Tokopedia, bukalapak, Lazada, and Blibli. “So, those pages will be a virtual area for SME products nationally,” he said.

Target SME sector developed through e-smart program, among others IKM cosmetics, metal, crafts, fashion, food and beverage, jewellery, leather products, furniture, herbal, components, textiles, machinery, cement, fertilizer, and electronics. “Development of a prototype e-smart IKM in the near future, namely the SME sector jewellery, wood and rattan furniture, wood carvings, batik, leather products, as well as woven handicrafts,” he said.

In addition, Airlangga said, the program is also to create as many as 20,000 new SME actors according the National Medium Term Development Plan (RPJMN) 2015-2019. “Other targets, new medium entrepreneurs as many as 4,500 people as well as the SME sector distribution ratio Java and outside Java, namely 60.34: 39.66,” he said.

The minister said that President Joko Widodo believes Indonesia has great potential to develop digital economy. “The President has asserted, the market potential of the digital economy is huge big enough to have a population of 250 million and 93.4 million are Internet users,” said Ailrangga. Therefore, he continued, the President is optimistic that Indonesia could become the country’s largest digital economy in Southeast Asia.

Digital Economy for MSMEs

Following up on the government’s vision to make Indonesia as the country with the largest growth in the digital economy by 2020, the President Joko Widodo on Tuesday at the Presidential Office in Jakarta, chaired the meeting is limited on the development of the digital economy that is growing rapidly.

During the meeting, Widodo asks his cabinet lineup to exploit the existing potential to improve economic actors digital in Indonesia. As is known, currently 93.4 million of the 250 million Indonesian population are Internet users by the number of sales through ‘e-commerce’ in 2014 reached $2.6 billion.

“The market potential is very large. This should not be left just like that. I’m sure it would have the potential to become the foundation for Indonesia to become the largest digital economy in Southeast Asia,” said President.

Widodo stressed the government’s determination to develop the digital economy as one of the efforts to market the products of SMEs. In addition, the President Joko Widodo also said digital economy can bring benefit to the people, especially SMEs and businesspeople and start ups.

Widodo further reminder of the importance of government support in strengthening economic actors digitally with deregulation and to provide capacity building training to compete.

“Provide deregulations to support the development of the ‘e-commerce’ industry. One other thing that should not be overlooked is the training to develop the capacity for novice actors of e-commerce that will be able to compete in the business world,” said President Joko Widodo.

In addition to deregulation, the government also stressed the importance of providing the infrastructure to support the achievement of that vision.

“I also requested an acceleration of the reach of telecommunications infrastructure required actors’ e-commerce ” he added.

On the occasion, President Joko Widodo revealed that instant messaging services on the Blackberry is owned 100 percent by Indonesia so that it can be used as a platform native Indonesia. (*)