VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

People's markets have an important role in Indonesia, namely developing and growing people’s economic growth and creating jobs. People's markets are also a place for social and cultural interaction. 

Currently, according to Statistics Indonesia (BPS), some 16,235 people's markets are not able to compete with modern markets. Even amid the Covid-19 pandemic, the people's market became even more sluggish.

Data from Indonesian Market Traders Association, as quoted from kompas.com (20/07/2021) showed some 5 million of 12 million or 43 percent of people's market traders in various regions were forced to close because of lacking customers during the pandemic.

In such a condition, people's market development and revitalization programs receive serious attention from the government. The government kept trying to revitalize the people's market. One of the aims is to enable the people's market competitiveness against modern retail so that people's economy can grow.

Trade Ministry's Domestic Trade Director General Oke Nirwan as quoted from Antara (18/01) said that the main problem in revitalizing people's economy is limited literacy or understanding about digital market implementation for traders and people's market management.

Educating the traders and people's market management from market digitalization implementation is not easy. Therefore, it needs synergy cooperation by both the government institutions and the private sector as done by the Trade Minister and Education, Culture, Research, and Technology Ministry.

On Tuesday (18/1), the Education, Culture, Research, and Technology Ministry signed a cooperation agreement on People's Market Strengthening and Empowerment through Independent Campus Program as witnessed virtually by Minister of the Education, Culture, Research, and Technology, Nadiem Makarim, and Minister of Trade, Minister M. Lutfi.

Through this cooperation program, students are invited to improve the management and manpower capacity of the business-people in the people's markets by optimizing digitalization to support the national economy.

It is expected that the cooperation will give an important experience for students about working at people's markets and improve the competitiveness of traders and people's market management.