MSMEs urged to implement green business

Cooperatives and Small and Medium Enterprises Minister Teten Masduki has said that micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) must start to pay attention to the impact of climate change and implement green business practices.

“Let’s advance our MSMEs by running a productive, quality, and environmentally friendly business,” he said at the online ‘MSMEs Summit 2021’ webinar, according to a press statement received here on Saturday.

He emphasized that switching to green business practices can improve product quality, help MSMEs gain access to new markets, increase production, as well as obtain other opportunities, lower input costs, and launch new products or services.

At the webinar, the minister also announced plans for the medium- and long-term consolidation of MSMEs by transforming the sector in 2022. He expressed the hope that Indonesia would be able to make the COVID-19 pandemic into an endemic by then.

“In 2022, we will continue to carry out the agenda set out in Government Regulation Number 7 of 2021 concerning the Ease, Protection, and Empowerment of Cooperatives and MSMEs,” he said.

The regulation is a follow-up to Law Number No. 11 of 2020 concerning Job Creation.

Meanwhile, the agenda comprises the use of public infrastructure for MSMEs of 30 percent and spending on government goods or services procurement for MSMEs of 40 percent, he informed.

In addition, it also includes building strategic partnerships between MSMEs and state-owned enterprises and large businesses, as well as realizing modern cooperatives, he said.

Furthermore, Masduki gave the example of environmentally friendly businesses run by the Japanese Consumer Cooperation Union (JCCU) for producing COOP sustainable products.

JCCU is an advanced cooperative in Japan that uses environmentally friendly materials in the production process to protect marine and forest resources, he added.

 

Source: Antara News