Trade Ministry and the largest Muslim organization in Indonesia, Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) inked a a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to develop and empower Muslims' economy, including to level up micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) run by santris (Islamic boarding school students).
Trade Minister Zulkifli Hasan signed the MoU with the chairman of Nahdlatul Ulama’s executive board, Yahya Cholil Staquf.
"This MoU is a synergy to develop and empower the people's (Muslims') economy. One of which is so that santri-run MSMEs can level up," the minister said in a statement on Thursday.
The cooperation pertains to the synergy of developing and empowering Muslims' economy through MSMEs. Trade Minister has urged santri-run MSMEs to scale up.
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Hasan said that in 2021, MSMEs contributed significantly to Indonesia's gross domestic product (GDP) and absorbed the majority of the country's workforce. According to him, MSMEs are the backbone of the economy that need support to level up, which can, in turn, help strengthen the national economy.
"For supporting the progress of MSMEs, the Ministry of Trade has (offered) various facilities in the form of coaching, training and mentoring programs to increase human resource capacity, business capacity, and market access for MSMEs," he informed.
He also outlined several strategies that his ministry is pushing to promote MSMEs: first, supporting the acceleration of digitalization by targeting a thousand markets and one million MSME traders, including food stalls across Indonesia.
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Second, providing spaces for business or for promoting local products at shopping centers, spanning at least 30 percent of the total area. Third, supporting the achievement of the target of the Proud of Indonesian Products National Movement (Gernas BBI) so that more MSMEs can enter digital platforms.
To help MSMEs level up, the Ministry of Trade is also assisting MSME players through various programs.
They include the provision of technical guidance on product development and design, training, and assistance in exporting products; acceleration of market access through various promotional activities domestically and abroad, on both online marketplaces and offline; and trade facilities assistance in the form of repairing grocery marts and pesantren (Islamic boarding school) marts.
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Editor : Mahdani
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