International Economic Agreements to Help Expand MSMEs Export Market

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Member of Commission VI of the Indonesian House of Representatives (DPR) Nevi Zuairina is optimistic that various ratifications of comprehensive economic agreements in international trade could expand export market for domestic Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs).

"All these comprehensive economic partnership agreements must provide great opportunities for major national businessmen and allow MSME players to expand their markets in partner countries," she said in a written statement here on Sunday.

Zuairina did not expect the ratification of the trade agreement to cause an imbalance so that the national trade balance would become negative.

Hence, the government should issue strict regulations to prevent internatioinal trade deficit, she added.

She said there were three agreements that were ratified recently, namely Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement, ASEAN Services Trade Agreement, and Indonesia-Korea Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement.

"These three international agreements must be able to provide benefits for the Indonesian people. The government must maintain this regulation so that it does not have a negative impact on business actors, especially SMEs," she said.

The House member hopes that the ratification of the agreement will be able to reduce Indonesia's relatively high Gini ratio. Based on data from Central Statistics Agency (BPS) as of March 2021, the level of inequality in Indonesian spending as measured by the Gini ratio is 0.384.

Meanwhile, Vice President Ma'ruf Amin previously said that MSMEs in the halal industry sector must receive strong support to strengthen their export market.

"MSMEs in the halal industry need to be strongly supported to meet the needs of domestic and export markets. That needs must be measured based on the quantity and quality of the product," said the vice president.

Support for MSMEs in halal industrial sector can be done by strengthening synergies and collaborations to accelerate MSMEs development. In addition, various parties must also pay great attention to improving the performance of MSMEs in the halal industry.

Deputy Chairperson of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) Shinta Kamdani added that the provision of subsidies for MSME players can encourage the export of products whose markets are not affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Kamdani assessed that the provision of these incentives could encourage exports by MSME players, replacing the domestic market which was being affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

"We have asked the government to provide export subsidies and export insurance subsidies for SMEs. These two requests are to encourage exports from MSME players as the export market is currently not too affected by the pandemic," said Shinta.

She ensured that the Chamber will continue to cooperate with the government and propose stimulus policies so that business actors in the micro, small and medium sectors (MSMEs) can survive in the midst of the pandemic.

Read: Tempo PDAT Survey: Tokopedia as the Preferred E-commerce by Indonesian MSMEs

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