VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Indonesian President Joko Widodo (center) attends a dinner hosted by the Italian President Sergio Mattarella (second from left) in Rome, Italy on Saturday (October 30, 2021). (ANTARA/HO-Press Bureau of the Presidential Secretariat/Muchlis Jr./yas) - 

Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi lauded Indonesian President Joko Widodo's programs regarding MSMEs empowerment, increasing the role of women in business, and economic inclusiveness, Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto said.

"The Italian prime minister appreciates the programs presented by President Jokowi," Minister Hartarto stated in an online press statement -- on the Group of Twenty (G20) Summit in Rome -- broadcasted on Presidential Secretariat's YouTube channel and monitored from Jakarta on Sunday.

Amid the series of G20 meetings, a side event on MSMEs and women-owned businesses was conducted, and it presented President Jokowi as a speaker, along with Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and Queen Maxima of the Netherlands.

At the side event, Jokowi conveyed about the micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) empowerment programs that Indonesia had carried out, such as the provision of loans for people's business (KUR), supermicro KUR loans, women-based finance lending development (Mekaar) program, and digitization program for MSMEs.

Moreover, Coordinating Minister Hartarto also said that Queen Maxima of the Netherlands during the event mentioned about the presence of online motorcycle taxi services as a good example of economic inclusive implementation.

During the G20 side event regarding MSMEs, President Jokowi said that Indonesia currently has more than 65 million MSMEs that contribute to 61 percent of the national economy. Jokowi emphasized that MSMEs are the main pillar of Indonesia's national economy.

At the same time, 64 percent of Indonesian MSME actors are women. Therefore, for Indonesia, the program to empower MSMEs also means empowering women in business. MSMEs in the coutry have also shown quite high resilience in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In addition, Indonesian government has also distributed a fund worth US$1.1 billion for the Productive Micro Business Program and 63.5 percent of which was received by women entrepreneurs//ANT