VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Minister of Cooperatives and Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), Teten Masduki along with Indonesian Ambassador to Switzerland and Liechtenstein, Muliaman Hadad inaugurated the Indonesia Trading House or ITH which is located at the Pasar Indonesia store in Aargau, Switzerland. In a statement received last Tuesday (24/1), Minister Teten Masduki gave high appreciation for the efforts to establish ITH in Switzerland, because this opens up opportunities for Indonesian Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) to enter foreign markets.

Minister Teten also paid attention to the use of digital market platforms or marketplaces for marketing Indonesian MSMEs’ products and connectedness with ITH networks, Indonesian diaspora, and domestic markets.

Minister Tetan also remarked that there are many MSMEs’ products that ITH can collaborate with, such as those sold at Mbloc, Pos Bloc and Sarinah. The government is also pushing the sale of spices so that they are no longer selling spices.

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 the Indonesia Trading House (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. Ambassador Muliaman also expressed that Indonesia must think about and take advantage of Switzerland's opportunities as a doorway for Indonesian products to the European market, especially by utilizing the issue of tariffs in the Indonesia-EFTA CEPA Agreement.

Meanwhile, Deputy Chairperson for Coordinator I, Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Yukki Nugrahawan Hanafi said that this ITH is the first in Europe and will continue to be developed. He also appreciates the support from the Indonesian Embassy in Bern and the Indonesian Ministry of Trade. Yukki Nugrahawan also hopes that there will be a joint solution regarding the issue of quite high logistics costs. The Indonesia-EFTA CEPA agreement that has been reached also needs to be put to good use, especially regarding tariffs.