Indonesia and Japan have recently reached an agreement to enhance their economic partnership, particularly in the micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSME) sector.
The accord was formalised through the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between Indonesia’s Ministry of Cooperatives and Small and Medium Enterprises and Japan’s Organization for Small and Medium Enterprise and Regional Innovation (SMRJ) in Tokyo.
Minister Teten Masduki, in a statement received on Monday, expressed optimism that the MoU and meeting would facilitate stronger ties between Indonesian MSMEs and Japanese businesses. The focus is on promoting MSME products in global markets, establishing robust supply chains, and fostering startup development.
Highlighting the longstanding collaboration in MSME development between the two nations, Masduki’s visit to Japan aimed to revitalise the cooperation, directing future partnership programs towards several sectors, including MSMEs.
During the visit, Minister Masduki engaged with 30 selected Indonesian MSMEs from diverse sectors such as automotive, health, food, and fishery, some attending in person and others virtually.
Additionally, the minister held a meeting with the state-owned Japan Finance Corporation (JFC) in Tokyo, where he emphasised the crucial role of MSMEs as the backbone of Indonesia and Japan’s national economies. These enterprises play a significant role in generating job opportunities and promoting inclusive innovation, technology, and growth.
Given the challenges posed by the post-COVID-19 pandemic era, the focus remains on empowering MSMEs to become more resilient, adaptive, productive, and sustainable.
The meeting with JFC served as a platform to explore innovative and practical measures for facilitating financing and development of MSMEs. The parties also discussed opportunities for cooperation, knowledge exchange, technology transfer, and capacity-building initiatives to further support Indonesian MSMEs.
One of the key topics during the meeting was potential financing schemes for Indonesian MSMEs and opportunities for business-to-business (B2B) investments between Indonesian MSMEs and partnered Japanese companies.
