Now underway in Hanover, Germany, the event is a reassuring event for Indonesia to show an excellent image of the country to the eyes of the world after struggling to survive the COVID-19 pandemic.

Hannover Messe has been held every spring at the Hanover Exhibition Center in Lower Saxony since 1947. This year’s edition began on April 17 and will close on April 21.

For Indonesia, this event constitutes the government’s endeavor to increase manufacturing capabilities and digital-infrastructure development. Indonesia also seeks to expand and establish partnerships with industry players, especially in industrial technology 4.0.

For local industries, especially large industrial supply-chain providers, in this case micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), the exhibition creates a momentum that is no less strategic. Amid various policies to help the economy recover stronger, branding and promotion events at the international level are important vehicles to follow up on.

This is the right time for MSME players to seize bigger opportunities, namely, to be integrated into the global supply chain.

The wider MSME entry into the global market network will create various opportunities, including greater opportunities to scale up, accelerate innovation, facilitate open access to more professional managerial technology and knowledge, broaden and deepen skills and increase productivity.

Hannover Messe, as a global technology platform exhibition, with visitors from all over the world and attended by more than 90 countries, is an opportunity for partner countries including Indonesia to become the focus of the world and maximize attention among the global industrial sector.

Judging from Indonesia's potential, this nation has various advantages in developing digital technology, such as stable economic growth, a large and educated young generation and the rising number of start-ups.

At the Hannover Messe 2023, Indonesia fills almost all of the sector space offered, including start-up, research and development, energy solutions, engineer parts and solutions, process, industrial automation, digitalization, as well as skills development.

Joining the global value chain offers Indonesian MSMEs various opportunities to be integrated into the world economy as exporters, suppliers of large export-oriented businesses and importers of raw materials or materials and technology at relatively more competitive prices.

Hannover Messe is indeed Indonesia's strategic step in overcoming the challenges and opportunities of Industry 4.0 as well as providing great potential for Indonesia to forge Industry 4.0 partnerships.

This event is important for presenting Indonesia to the world from an industrial and technological perspective, as well as being a showcase of achievements of the national industrial sector and recovery of the economy, especially in the manufacturing sector.

The issue of digital transformation is a significant matter for discussion considering Industry 4.0 is closely related to onboarding digital technology.

In fact, this digital transformation is actually the solution for MSMEs to lower their operational costs, increase MSMEs’ involvement in trade and larger businesses and encourage them to move up the ranks to become global companies.

Moreover, the increasing complexity and climate of trade require further strengthening of international cooperation in order to be able to identify solutions to facing global challenges.

 

In this regard, MSMEs’ institutional strengthening is imperative, especially the government's focus on helping them to go global, including increasing access to information, skills, technology, funding, as well as business facilities and connectivity of the actors.

In the future, much homework needs to be continuously reviewed, including in terms of the most appropriate policies to encourage MSMEs to go global and the supporting policies they need.

Indonesia also needs a benchmark or role model for MSMEs or the types of companies that have proven to succeed in integrating themselves in the global value chains, and how policies can enable the integration of MSMEs or other companies in the global market.

In addition, it is also necessary to ask what aspects of the open market are most important for MSMEs’ participation in global value chains. There is also another focus on ensuring the extent to which policies can help MSME players take advantage of the potential of digital technology for their global trade activities.

The choice of downstream industry and green economy has allowed 18 Indonesian and German companies to sign cooperation agreements worth up to US$2 billion during the Hannover Messe. That is good news for Indonesian industry players, including MSMEs and start-ups, with more to come and to take advantage of.

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The writer is assistant to the Special Presidential Envoy (UKP) for Cooperation in Poverty Alleviation and Food Security.