TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo has called on big companies to care about small businesses operating nearby, such as by establishing a partnership, in order to help increase their product quality.

“We don’t want big companies to stay in a region with their tall and huge factories while [local small businesses] nearby are in poor conditions,” said the President at the launching event of the Exclusive Partnership Movement for MSMEs at the SMESCO Building, Jakarta, Monday, October 3, 2022.

He also asked big companies to develop the area near their operations and not to let local stalls in slum condition. “Why don’t they [create products] like ones exhibited in the front which are arranged so well with good packaging? The government cannot possibly do that, the one who can and are able to realize it quickly is a partnership movement,” he said.

The head of state made the statement when talking about corn imports, which had been successfully suppressed by the government. Indonesia previously imported 3.5 million tons of corn every year. Seven years later, the value plummeted to just 800,000 tons per year.

He underlined that it could be achieved due to the partnership of farmers who accompany and oversee the planting process.

Thus, Jokowi expected this coaching model to be applied to all other people's businesses such as rice, porang, and cassava. He demanded big companies play a role in accompanying local small businesses.

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