Coordinating Minister for the Economy Airlangga Hartarto said that industrial capability is the main element for a country’s economic resilience during a pandemic.
“Therefore, the G20 must promote efforts to develop the industrial sector, trade and to attract more investment,” Hartarto said here on Thursday.
The statement was made as a call for G20 countries to better collaborate in providing the necessary support to encourage industrial and trade aspects that adopt technology, particularly in developing countries.
He made his remarks during the inauguration of the G20 Trade, Investment, and Industry Ministerial Meeting.
The trade, investment, and industrial sectors were the driving force of a country’s national economy, including in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The three sectors also played crucial roles in strengthening the fundamentals of the national economy.
In this year’s G20 Presidency, meetings at the Working Group (Trade, Investment and Industry Working Group) and at the Ministerial Level (TIIMM) would serve as a push for G20 countries to produce appropriate policy recommendations in response to global dynamics and fair, balanced agreements for countries all over the regions.
Countries which were highly competitive, in terms of their industrial performance indexes, were becoming more competitive and resilient in facing the challenges that arise during the pandemic. Industry would encourage job creation and requirements for the trade sector in distribution, and encourage increased investment.
Moreover, the minister said that the COVID-19 pandemic had boosted the rate of digital transformation, including digital trade, as well as the development of digital commerce, which included digital payments and digital delivery services. Global retail e-commerce sales in 2020 increased by almost 30 percent from 2019’s rate. By 2020, about 24 percent of companies had received orders online and more than 40 percent of companies placed orders online.
He also said that the government continued to develop technology and information systems to support the supply chain process. In this aspect, the Government could monitor data updates and ensure that the information was reliable.
This was done in accordance with the government’s attempts to strengthen Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) to provide added value for the supply chain.
The government was committed to improve and motivate MSMEs, since they contributed more than 60 percent of the national GDP, with the highest employment rate.
“Indonesia truly appreciates the contribution of MSMEs. Therefore, the government continues to improve the resilience of MSMEs so that they can constantly adapt to face the challenges ahead. I believe that in many countries, MSMEs are one of the most vulnerable sectors that need extra attention,” the minister pointed out.
Therefore, Indonesia pushed for the G20 to find recommendations to increase the resilience of that sector, and encourage MSMEs to become an important part of the value chain, he noted.
Moreover, Minister Hartarto reiterated that in this year’s G20 Presidency, Indonesia called for cooperation between G20 countries in establishing strategic measures to restore confidence in global institutions.
Multilateral platforms were important, thus G20 meetings were expected to be able to provide a lot of enrichment for G20 members.
“We need global solutions to address the challenges the world is facing currently. I am sure that the multilateral mechanism will be the best platform, in which we can find solutions and answers, ones that represent the unity of the goals of countries in all regions of the world,” he added.
Source: Antara News