In order to support this acceleration, the State-Owned Enterprises(SOEs) Ministry in collaboration with nine SOEs launched a digital marketplace platform on Aug. 17 to help local economic players boost their potential. The new platform, called Pasar Digital UMKM,or PaDi UMKM for short, is a digital marketplace for local MSMEs to tap into new consumers.

In conjunction with Indonesia’s 75^th Independence Day celebration, SOEs Minister Erick Thohir, Small and Medium Enterprises Minister Teten Masduki, National Public Procurement Agency (LKPP) chairman Roni Dwi Susanto and several representatives of the SOEs’ board of directors marked the new digital platform’s launch.

The online launchwas called Expanding MSMEs’ Market Share to Accelerate Local Economic Growth and it was also joined by Coordinating Maritime Affairs and Investment Minister Luhut Pandjaitan. Teten opened the event with his remarks.

PaDi UMKM is a platform created by the nation’s children, initiated by the SOEs Ministry to be later developed by state-owned telecommunications company PT Telkom Indonesia, which carries out its role as the platform’s centralized information manager and business-to-business marketing service provider.

Meanwhile, eight other SOEs, comprising housing company PT Pembangunan Perumahan (PP), construction companies Waskita Karya and Wijaya Karya, fertilizer manufacturer Pupuk Indonesia, oil and gas company PT Pertamina, lender Bank Rakyat Indonesia (BRI), pawnshop Pegadaian and financing firm Permodalan Nasional Madani will help oversee the pilot projects implemented in each of the MSMEs’ task forces.

The eight SOEs will also facilitate the business development programs among the MSMEs that are beneficiaries of their special incubation program, courtesy of each SOE’s community development center’s Rumah BUMN (SOE Home) economic acceleration initiative.

The budget for the first phase of the MSME market expansion program has been jointly provided by BRI, Pegadaian and Permodalan Nasional Madani. Other state-owned lenders and financing companies will take turns to finance the next phases of the program. 

Erick, who was also recently appointed to head the national COVID-19 mitigation and economic recovery committee, said during the press conference that by boosting consumer spending, especially on MSMEs, the nation would push its economy to move faster amid the pandemic-induced crisis.

“We contribute our part as SOEs by coming together to create this platform, PaDi UMKM. You can also connect the platform with our collective procurement and website for MSMEs to help these businesses tap into an even bigger ecosystem,” Erick said.

The new platform will give various advantages to the MSMEs and the SOEs, as well as the government through the office of the SOEsminister on a greater scale.

Advantages for the MSMEs include access to a wider market, which also helps them tap into Indonesia’s various SOEs, e-commerce platforms at both the local and global scales, financing and capital access companies, as well as various insights on product quality improvement.

The PaDi UMKM platform, meanwhile, also benefits the SOEs by helping them procure office equipment using verified MSME sellers and clear monitoring procedures.

The government can also use the platform to provide them with a strong basis with which they can conduct thepeople’s economic welfare improvement program, by providing it with valid data regarding the profile of local MSMEs and mapping out local business characteristics. This will be particularly helpful to the SOEsin monitoring each enterprise’s spending contribution to the MSMEs across Indonesia.

Telkom president director Ririek Adriansyah, who was also present during the PaDi UMKM platform launch, said the program was also designed so thatSOEs couldincrease and sustain their absorption of products provided by MSMEs.

Ririek said that Telkom itself had already accumulated quite an impressive track record in empowering local MSMEs through its Partnership and Environmental Management program, while participating actively as one of the pioneers of MSME mentorship through the Rumah BUMN community development initiatives.

“In line with the government’s focus on making sure that MSMEs sustain their growth and productivity, Telkom seeks to use its information and communication technology infrastructure and services to ensure the new PaDi UMKM platform’s success. Telkom commits itself fully to ensuring the success of the government’s MSME digitization program – especially that of the SOEs Ministry,” Ririek asserted.

In Indonesia there are currently more than 60 million MSMEs, with about 56,000 of these already joining the PaDi UMKM platform. Gradually, other MSMEs will also be able to join the new platform.

“Telkom also commits itself to continuously improving its contributions to advancingMSMEs’ businesses and, of course, Indonesia’s economic wheels, in the future,” Ririek said.

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