VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

The Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy is optimistic that the target of digitizing 10 million Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) this year will be achieved.

As of May 14, 2020, eight million MSMEs had digitized so that the government needed to encourage the remaining two million MSMEs to meet the target.

"As of the end of August, it has increased by 1.9 million (UMKM), We should reach the target by September," Muhammad Neil El Himam, deputy for digital economy and creative products at the Ministry said in a webinar, on Monday.

Yuana Rochma Astuti, director of creative economy marketing at the Ministry said that there are 1.97 million additional MSMEs that are digitized and he is optimistic that the target will be exceeded by the end of 2020.

Most of the MSMEs that have been digitized are businesses in the culinary and fashion fields.

The ministry wants to encourage entrepreneurs in the craft sector to reach more consumers through e-commerce. Neil explained that the craft business was one of those affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

As an inseparable part of tourism, many businessmen have lost consumers because the flow of tourists has automatically stopped due to the spread of the coronavirus.

"Many crafts are sold as souvenirs for tourists. As long as tourism is affected, crafts are also affected," Neil said.

The pandemic that is sweeping the world has resulted in an acceleration of the digital economy in which entrepreneurs must quickly adapt to survive.

However, Neil admits that the digitization process is not as easy as it seems.

Apart from changing their sales and marketing methods from offline to online, entrepreneurs must also ensure that product quality is maintained. The supply of goods must always be available to meet consumer demand.

According to Yuana, this is one challenge faced by craft entrepreneurs who have more often interacted with consumers directly, such as through exhibitions.

Neil added that the digitalization of MSMEs is expected to enable Indonesian entrepreneurs to face the digital economy era while continuing to improve the quality of their products.

"Our target is to create superior local creative works that can add value to the creative economy," he said. (Antaranews)