VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

VOINews, Jakarta - National product standardization can boost a product's competitiveness and ultimately drive economic growth, Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto said.

"The existence of a product, with good standards, will improve consumers' trust which in turn encourages spending and has a positive impact on the economy," he noted in a statement on Wednesday (June 14).

He pointed out that product standardization can also be done as an instrument to protect the domestic market as is observed in developed countries that generally choose standardization as opposed to licensing to protect their domestic market from imported products.

Currently, 2,998 institutions conduct testing, inspection, and certification of national products.

He said standardization activities can mostly be conducted by private parties and should be developed to boost competitiveness of the national economy and improve the people's prosperity, in general.

"The government continues to encourage standardization by facilitating micro and small enterprises (MSEs) to obtain Indonesian National Standard (SNI) certificate through the Bina-UMK SNI scheme," he stated during the National Quality Infrastructure Festival 2023, Wednesday.

The Job Creation Law has also stipulated single licensing. Business identification number (NIB) for MSEs will also be complemented with SNI, he said.

He guarantees that in the implementation, central and regional governments will assist and facilitate MSEs, so that they can fulfill the requirements.

The minister also highlighted several aspects that should be taken into account, including increasing the number of SNI products. The SNI procedure is expected to be created in a simple, transparent, and affordable manner.

Product standardization should also be optimized as an instrument to protect customers and to secure the domestic market, Hartarto said.

Hence, SNI should be formulated by adopting the standards that apply internationally that are adjusted according to the Indonesians' unique character, he stressed.

He said ministries, institutions, and regional governments should also be committed to manage monitoring with regard to measuring and weighing tools that exist in the center of economic activities. Through this, the people's interests can be protected.

"People's awareness should also be developed to make them realize that SNI is intended to improve the competitiveness of national products and not to hinder trade," Hartarto said. (Antaranews)