Indonesia policy makers to better coordinate on SME policies

Working condition in one of the SMEs in Indonesia Indonesian policy makers, representing relevant ministries, key labour actors and organizations including business development services, have formulated joint intervention programmes to promote better market access and to enhance the application of the information technology as critical steps to develop more coordinated policies and to improve small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Indonesia.

In addition, they concluded the three-day training courses titled “Productivity and Working Conditions in SMEs for Policy Makers”, 13-16 June, with, among others, enhancement of the current online SME platform named Fokus-umkm.com by providing additional collaborative features such as best practice forum, list of experts and certifications. They also agreed to wider promote the website contents in other social media accounts.

Indonesian SMEs are one of the economic pillars of the country. Around 99 per cent of the Indonesian business are SMEs and they are the main providers of employment in Indonesia. Therefore, this meeting is crucial for Indonesia and its policy makers in order to develop and formulate more coordinated and coherent policies on SMEs."

Ahmad Dading Gunadi, Director of SMEs and Cooperative of the Ministry of National Development Planning (Bappenas)

“Indonesian SMEs are one of the economic pillars of the country. Around 99 per cent of the Indonesian business are SMEs and they are the main providers of employment in Indonesia. Therefore, this meeting is crucial for Indonesia and its policy makers in order to develop and formulate more coordinated and coherent policies on SMEs,” stated Ahmad Dading Gunadi, Director of SMEs and Cooperative of the Ministry of National Development Planning (Bappenas) in his brief remarks, representing Rahma Iryanti, Deputy Minister of Population and Employment of Bappenas.

This training course was jointly conducted by the ILO, in collaboration with the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the Bappenas. The course was a follow-up to similar courses conducted in Bangkok, Thailand and Turin, Italy, attended by 10 and five countries, respectively.

We continue to support the productivity improvements of the country. We are going to share our expertise as the OECD has developed general SMEs’ policy assessment called SMEs Policy Index which would be helpful to Indonesian policy makers in better understanding the importance of linkages between policy measures and SME policies."

Antonio Fanelli, Senior Expert of the Global Relations Directorate of OECD Paris

Indonesia has been chosen as the ILO’s pilot country to conduct this training course as means to gain new ideas and innovations on SMEs productivity and working conditions for policy makers. The results of this training course will be shared in a global meeting in Latin America next year, discussing and examining results of similar courses held nationally and globally this year.

Appraising the commitment of Indonesia, Antonio Fanelli, Senior Expert of the Global Relations Directorate of OECD Paris, said that Indonesia is the strategic partner of the OECD in the improvement of the SMEs as the country has already had ongoing active programmes in SME policy areas.

“We continue to support the productivity improvements of the country. We are going to share our expertise as the OECD has developed general SMEs’ policy assessment called SMEs Policy Index which would be helpful to Indonesian policy makers in better understanding the importance of linkages between policy measures and SME policies,” he said.

Meanwhile, John Summerbell, Acting Director of the Mission of Canada to ASEAN and Indonesia, emphasized the importance of creating enabling environment for SMEs to achieve inclusive economic growth in Indonesia through, among others, the involvement of women and the promotion of gender equality. “The integration of women in the SMEs policies are important and we closely work with relevant stakeholders to ensure that the impact of the policies will be beneficial for all,” he stated. (*)