JAKARTA — President Prabowo Subianto has shown a strong commitment to supporting MSMEs in Indonesia with various proactive policies that encourage the growth of the sector.
Concrete steps, such as the separation of the Ministry of Cooperatives and SMEs into two separate institutions, as well as a debt cancellation program for 6 million SMEs, farmers and fishermen, reflect the eighth President of the Republic of Indonesia’s deep concern for the economy of the common people.
Minister of SMEs 2024-2029, Maman Abdurrahman, said that the separation of ministries aims to allow the Ministry of SMEs to focus more on managing SMEs, allowing more micro-businesses to move up a class.
According to Maman, around 97% of the 64 million MSMEs in Indonesia are on a micro scale.
For this reason, he and President Prabowo Subianto are committed to ensuring that MSMEs receive full support in increasing their business capacity.
“We, the government in the era of Mr. Prabowo Subianto, will never abandon the MSME actors who have contributed to maintaining the Indonesian economy,” said Maman.
President Prabowo’s big mandate also includes an economic growth target of up to 8 percent, where the MSME sector will be the main driving force.
To achieve this target, several priority programs have been prepared, including providing certainty of capital, technological support, and simplifying the licensing process for MSMEs throughout Indonesia.
Another significant step taken by the national leader born in 1951 was the policy of writing off MSME debt.
Hashim Djojohadikusumo, who also participated in the economic discussion with the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said that this policy is highly anticipated by small business actors who are often forced to turn to loan sharks and online loans due to difficulties in accessing bank credit.
“There are millions of farmers and fishermen who are burdened with old debts, including those from the 1998 and 2008 crises. They cannot borrow money from banks,” Hashim said.
BRI President Director, Sunarso, welcomed the debt cancellation policy which he said had been awaited by Himbara, including Bank BRI.
Sunarso explained that state-owned banks have so far not dared to write off debts because of regulations that could potentially categorize this as a state loss.
“The policy of writing off debts, especially for MSMEs, is indeed awaited by Himbara,” said Sunarso.
With these concrete steps, President Prabowo shows his determination to continue to accompany and strengthen the position of MSMEs as the backbone of the national economy. []
