Banjarmasin, S Kalimantan (ANTARA) - The University of Lambung Mangkurat (ULM) economist Hidayatullah Muttaqin suggested the local government to prepare the latest data digitization of Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs or locally known as UMKM).
"This data availability is very important for local government to make more impactful and measurable policies, especially in the midst of crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic," he said here, Sunday.
If previously South Kalimantan's economy had relied to much on natural resource-based export commodities, coal and CPO, he said, now is the moment for the local government to promote MSMEs, which have been somewhat marginalized.
In fact, the 2016 BPS Economic Census data showed that the province has 472 thousand MSMEs which covered 99 percent of the existing business. MSMEs provided about 83 percent of 1.16 million jobs in South Kalimantan.
With the potential of MSMEs business units and employement opportunities they absorbed, he pointed out, the economic recovery by focusing on effort to help MSMEs is very important.
"The local government should move fast to take strategic steps to re-boost the MSMEs production and trading activities. There it is then the important of the local government to have an always up-to-date data," he said.
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Muttaqin showed, of the 472 thousand MSMEs business units, 48 percent were engaged in the trade sector, 18 percent in the accommodation, food and beverage, and 13 percent in the processing industry.
This data indicates that these three sectors should receive special attention in an effort to provide economic stimulus through MSMEs.
These three sector provide the largest employment opportunities in South Kalimantan. If the rate of fall of these three sector can be restrained, then the purchasing power of the people is relatively withstanding from the heavy shock.
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