Speaking on the sidelines of the Trade Expo Indonesia (TEI) 2026 on Oct. 17, Siti Nurhafidah Umiroh from Indonesia Eximbank highlighted the role of small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in the Indonesian economy.

“Indonesia has approximately 65.5 million MSMEs, though only 15.7 percent are exporters. This is a very low number compared with Singapore and China at 40 percent and 60 percent, respectively. At the same time, MSMEs are the backbone of the Indonesian economy as they contribute 61.9 percent of the GDP,” she explained.

As a Special Mission Vehicle (SMV) of the Finance Ministry acting as a policy bank, Indonesia Eximbank supports government policies designed to drive national export growth through financing, guarantees, insurance and consulting services.

Particularly, Fifi highlighted the Coaching Program for New Exporters (CPNE) initiative as one of Indonesia Eximbank’s flagship programs, aimed at Indonesian businesses that have never directly exported before. The program provides businesses with training and mentoring sessions to familiarize themselves with export requirements and regulations.

“For CPNE, there is a curation process before induction, where we receive a list of prospective businesses from the provincial government or from the Finance Ministry. From there, we will assess each business through a form they filled out beforehand or through an interview, in which SMEs will be categorized on whether they are potential exporters, export-ready or expert exporters.”

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Potential exporters are defined as SMEs with the ability to produce on a large scale, employing more than three people and an annual production cost of at least Rp 150 million. Meanwhile, export-ready businesses are those who have exported or supplied an exporter, have potential buyers, employ more than five people, and an annual production cost of Rp 300 million. To qualify as expert exporters, businesses must have been running for at least two years, exported for at least one year, have repeat buyers, employ more than 10 people, and have an annual production cost of Rp 500 million.

“This will determine the length of the program as well as the intensity of the training sessions,” Fifi said, noting that the expected output will be new exporters, new products, or new markets.

From Sumatra to the world

From the demand side, Indonesia Eximbank also provides businesses with marketing handholding in the form of business matching sessions and facilitation for international trade shows. In this year’s TEI, Indonesia Eximbank showcased 10 export-ready businesses in the food and beverage sector to international buyers with the aim of expanding market access and creating business partnership opportunities.

During the course of the five-day event, one Indonesia Eximbank-partnered business, North Sumatra-based independent coffee producer CV Mandiri Coffee, signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Netherlands-based Koffee Fabriek Group to export between 5 to 7 tonnes of semi-washed Arabica Gayo coffee.

Muhammad Syafruddin “Didin” Lubis, CV Mandiri Coffee’s marketing representative, said the company started in 2014 out of its owner Cipta Kurnia’s garage, and started exporting its coffee beans in 2022 before joining the CPNE initiative in 2023.

As the company deals in coffee, Didin said consistency in quality is key for repeat business, as is understanding of the export country’s specific requirements, including fees, schedules and paperwork.

“We found out about CPNE directly from Indonesia Eximbank, and we were interested in joining because we could gain more export knowledge along with mentoring that is aligned with our business needs. The program taught us to better understand our products’ strengths and maintain that consistency, as well as better determine our target market through extensive research and developing the relevant marketing strategies,” he said.

For businesses looking to join CPNE, Fifi highlighted the importance of understanding their consumers’ needs, as different markets will have different requirements.

“First, you need to have the product, and then you have to know what market you are targeting as well as the specifications needed for that consumer. Finally, the ability to maintain consistency is paramount. Once you have all that in order, you can join CPNE where we can work on things that need to be developed, whether they are legal documents or obtaining certifications needed for a particular country,” she said.

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