VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

In order to tap into the potential of Indonesia's national digital economy, the Trade Ministry is consistently developing the trade ecosystem through sustainable and inclusive digitization, which covers many stakeholders in the trade sector.

"One of the Trade Ministry's courses of action has been trade digitization, particularly of micro, small, and medium enterprises," Deputy Minister of Trade, Jerry Sambuaga, said in a statement received here on Monday.

The measure aims to cover one million MSMEs (250 thousand people's market traders and 750 thousand people's non-market traders) through market digitization by utilizing digital platforms in terms of transactions and payments, he said.

He made the remarks during an event entitled “Go Digital Education for MSMEs” with Deputy Minister of Trade, Dagangan and members of the North Sulawesi Young Entrepreneurs Association, which was hosted in Manado, North Sulawesi, on Saturday (January 28, 2022).

So far, the ministry has helped MSMEs access markets and sell their products through its 46 representative offices spread overseas, Sambuaga informed. It has forged 26 trade agreements to allow for easier market access.

It has also encouraged product development by allowing MSMEs to showcase their items on the https://portal-indonesia.id web page. MSMEs can use the site to introduce and promote their products digitally.

Further, the ministry will encourage the marketing of local products through the Proudly Made in Indonesia program, he informed.

The government has a crucial role in this aspect because, through its policies and regulations, the government can enable and encourage the development of MSMEs and young entrepreneurs, he said.

Besides the regulations, the ministry is consistently pursuing measures to increase the competitiveness of MSMEs through training and assistance, improve the quality of their products, and build the management capacity of business actors. The measures also include the extension of business partnerships and expansion of market access.

He also offered words of encouragement to business actors who participated in the talk show.

He said that North Sulawesi's young entrepreneurs are worthy and capable of taking advantage of opportunities to progress, become productive, and grow their love and pride for domestic products to become agents of change.

"North Sulawesi's young business actors are expected to be adaptive to changes, especially in the digital economy era. Continue to hone skills and master technology so (that you) can compete and create new innovations in making business opportunities," he added. (Antaranews)

National Population and Family Planning Agency (BKKBN) Secretary Tavip Agus stated that with the Jakarta Provincial Government's several forms of social assistance offered to the community, cases of extreme poverty should not be found.

"People in Jakarta had received social assistance in many forms. We are still looking for the root of extreme poverty," he noted at the Jakarta City Hall, Monday.

The regional government has provided several social assistance programs for underprivileged people in the form of the Jakarta Smart Card (KJP), Senior Citizen Cards, cards for people with disabilities, Jakarta Worker Cards, school operational assistance, and subsidized food.

Head of the General Section of Statistics Indonesia (BPS) in Jakarta branches Suryana explained that extreme poverty rate in Jakarta was equivalent to 0.89 percent of the entire population in the city, or reached 10.7 million people.

"Extreme poverty in Jakarta is growing, from 0.6 percent to 0.89 percent, or an increase of 0.29 percent," he added.

He explained that extreme poverty was evenly distributed throughout the city, though most of it was spread in North Jakarta.

He remarked that the indicator of extreme poverty is the level of the people's ability to shop or their purchasing power, which only reached under Rp11,633 per person per day, or around Rp350 thousand per month.

The Jakarta Provincial Government has conducted a search for as many as 95,668 extreme poor residents in the region in March 2022. This figure has increased by 0.29 percent as compared to March 2021 during which around 95,391 people were recorded.

The effort was made to facilitate governmental intervention to reduce poverty.

"We will focus to ensure that the recipients will be right on target," head of the Jakarta Regional Planning and Development Service Atika Nur Rahmania stated.

In order to ensure the correct recipients receive social assistance, the local government will match the name and address of the beneficiaries, she explained.

"We will identify using the name by address method. We still need to find these 95 thousand people," she stated.

The Jakarta Provincial Government collaborates with BKKBN and BPS Jakarta for identifying the extreme poverty data. (Antaranews)

People are clearing up the debris after floods that swept Manado City, North Sulawesi, the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) reported.

"People and the personnel then clear up trash and mud carried by the flood on Friday, January 27. They also cleaned up debris left from buildings that were damaged due to the landslide," Acting head of the center of disaster data, information, and communication at the BNPB Abdul Muhari stated.

Muhari noted in a statement received here on Monday that the floodwaters had receded on Sunday, January 29.

The cleanup by a team, led by the Manado Mitigation Agency, was conducted at some spots. Residents of Molas Village took part in this cleanup.

Following the disaster, the Manado City Government set up the disaster emergency response status for seven days, from January 27 to February 2, 2023.

"Some 34 villages in nine sub-districts were impacted by the flood. The nine sub-districts are Singkil, Mapanget, Tikala, Tuminting, Wenang, Sario, Bunaken, Paal Dua, and Wanea. Moreover, landslides impacted 22 sub-districts or villages in the seven sub-districts comprising Tikala, Singkil, Wanea, Bunaken, Mapanget, and Wenang," he elaborated.

Muhari also reported casualties from the disaster. Five lost their lives to the disasters, with one dead from the flood and four from the landslide. Moreover, one person sustained heavy injuries, while some suffered minor injuries. The local health office tended to them.

A total of 1,674 people had to seek shelter. They were spread across several sub-districts, with 948 from Bunaken, 370 from Paal Dua, 215 from Singkil, 100 from Tikala, and 41 from Wanang.

Personnel from the disaster mitigation agency and relevant offices are opening public kitchen and offering other basic services for the victims. (Antaranews)

Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KADIN) and world's leader in digital payment systems, Visa, signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to improve Indonesian micro, small and medium enterprises' (MSMEs') skills and financial literacy.

"One of the keys to helping MSMEs grow and advance is by increasing digital financial inclusion," Chairman of KADIN Indonesia Arsjad Rasjid stated here on Monday.

He said SMEs have an important role to play as a catalyst for the Indonesian economy since they are able to absorb a sizable workforce of 97 percent and dominate 99 percent of Indonesia's business structure.

However, he assessed that MSMEs in Indonesia still have limitations in terms of access and financial literacy.

On the other hand, the digital skills of MSMEs are still relatively low, thereby hindering scalability and integration with export markets and global value chains.

Moreover, the government is currently targeting 30 million MSMEs to enter digital platforms by 2024.

However, the Indonesian E-commerce Association (idEA) noted that currently, only around 19 million MSMEs are already operating on digital platforms.

"I hope that this collaboration would expand financial inclusion and improve digital skills, especially for MSMEs," Rasjid noted.

The provision and development of digital financial skills for MSMEs is carried out through the distribution of Practical Money Skills (PMS) modules.

The module contains educational skills and financial literacy guides from Visa that will be distributed to various MSMEs under the auspices of KADIN Indonesia.

Visa will also be involved in various digital financial skills programs that will be implemented by KADIN Indonesia and other partners.

President Director of PT Visa Worldwide Indonesia Riko Abdurrahman said they are committed to continuing to help improve the financial management capabilities of Indonesian people, especially MSMEs, which support the economy in Indonesia.

"It is an honor for us to be able to support KADIN by sharing global best practices in the form of financial and business management that has been tested in various parts of the world," he affirmed.

Through this collaboration, he is upbeat that VISA can help MSMEs in Indonesia understand and apply the basics of good financial management.

Abdurrahman also expressed optimism that MSMEs would understand the importance of going digital as an important foundation in developing their business in the new normal era. (Antaranews)