VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

State-Owned Enterprises Minister's Special Staff Arya Sinulingga at the Malang City SOE House on Friday, March 11, 2022. (ANTARA/SOE Ministry Press Bureau/rst) - 

The State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) Ministry encourages micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs), especially in Malang City, East Java, to utilize digital technology in order to improve their business.

SOE Minister's Special Staff Arya Sinulingga remarked that the working visit to the area was aimed at building and improving local MSMEs.

"SOE Minister Erick Thohir urged me to oversee MSMEs in Malang and see what type of assistance we can offer to improve their business," he noted in a press statement received here, Saturday.

Sinulingga later explained that assistance from the SOE minister will be provided collectively through the SOE House in Malang.

The Malang City SOE House succeeded in bringing 1,501 local MSMEs to become "Go Digital MSMEs," thereby translating to the fact that these business actors have used social media as a promotional medium.

The SOE House has also provided 293 trainings to assisted MSMEs that covered digital marketing training, business financial management, and product development, he remarked.

"The SOE House, initiated by Minister Thohir, is a forum for developing MSMEs aimed at increasing the capacity and capability of MSMEs in Indonesia," he remarked.

During Sinulingga's visit, the young entrepreneur, who owns Gloeshoes Leather, Nabella Zya Arofah, 26, spoke of having received business assistance from the SOE House that was able to develop the business she was involved in.

"The SOE house has helped my business from being a home-based business until I have employees and sell my products in the international market," Arofah stated.

Arofah admitted that the biggest sales were recorded from using Instagram as her digital marketing platform. Her footwear products were also in demand in the international market.

The Malang City SOE House has succeeded in fostering 36,763 MSMEs engaged in food processing, fashion, and handicrafts. Establishment of the SOE House was motivated by the growth of the global market that had caused a shift in the paradigm of national business.

MSMEs are viewed as having an important role to play in the national economy through creating job opportunities, encouraging the improvement of community welfare, and creating new innovations//ANT