VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

VOINews, Jakarta - Indonesia's foreign affairs and finance ministries have agreed to collaborate to improve institutional cooperation to support economic diplomacy, including to help micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) enter global markets.

To strengthen cooperation, the two ministries signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Cooperation in the Field of State Finance and Foreign Relations to Support Economic Diplomacy on Monday.

The agreement was signed by Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi and Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati.

"Through this MoU, the government will support MSMEs to enter global markets," Marsudi said during the MoU signing ceremony at Pancasila Building, Jakarta.

Under the administration of President Joko Widodo, Indonesia is providing great support to MSMEs, as they are the backbone of the national economy, she added.

"With the largest number of MSMEs in Southeast Asia, our MSMEs' contribution to the economy only reaches 15 percent. Meanwhile, Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand (MSME contributions to their economy) are bigger," Marsudi noted.

She said she expects the collaboration between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Finance Ministry to be implemented immediately in Indonesia's 131 representative offices abroad, which serve as the "eyes and ears" as well as information agents overseas.

In the short term, Marsudi asked the team from the foreign affairs and finance ministries to map out strategies between MSMEs and Indonesian representatives and conduct a comprehensive study of opportunities for Indonesian MSME products in accredited countries.

"The Finance Ministry can provide data on the potential of MSMEs based on joint curation regarding their superiority and export capacity," she said.

She added that after obtaining the data, the ministry can synergize and encourage the implementation of the strategies. Meanwhile, the Indonesian representatives will provide accurate information regarding entry permits and market penetration.

In the long term, both ministries will need to set up performance evaluation mechanisms based on accurate criteria, such as exports and revenue, Marsudi emphasized.

"In the future, we should expand this collaboration to ministries and relevant agencies to form a great strategy for MSMEs to go global, from capacity development, production financing, to product marketing," she added. (Antaranews)