Cooperatives and Small and Medium Enterprises Minister Teten Masduki has lauded the launch of the ‘City of the Future’ program, a collaborative effort among private companies to encourage the digitalization of micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSME).

“I welcome and highly appreciate the #KotaMasaDepan (City of the Future) MSME festival which is being held in various cities. This is an extraordinary collaboration,” Masduki said in a virtual speech on Thursday.

President Joko Widodo has stressed the importance of bringing MSMEs into the digital ecosystem so that they can survive in the midst of the pandemic and compete at the global level, he noted.

Thus, the government is currently making efforts to help 30 million MSMEs connect to digital platforms by 2024, he said.

“So, an ecosystem approach and collaboration from all stakeholders is expected to provide great benefits,” he added.

The minister also said that he expects the private sector, including e-commerce applicators, to not remain still, but continue to collaborate and create new innovations for encouraging the progress of MSMEs in the future.

This is necessary because collaboration benefits all parties, from applicators, small and medium traders, consumers, to the government, he remarked.

He then encouraged MSME players to derive benefits from the “City of the Future” program to develop their businesses.

“Take advantage of this good opportunity to continue to move to develop capacity and transform in the digital ecosystem,” Masduki said.

The ‘City of the Future’ program, initiated by Grab, Emtek, and Bukalapak, will be held in small cities in Indonesia.

The main priorities of the program are vaccination of MSME players, adoption of digital platforms, and MSME empowerment through training and assistance in business development using digital technology.

Source: Antara News