The President of the Republic of Indonesia Joko Widodo (Jokowi) emphasized the importance of collaboration between micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and large businesses. The President believes that the problems faced by Indonesia and even the world today can be resolved if all elements are involved in national economic development. This was conveyed by Jokowi at the opening of the 2022 Investor Daily Summit at the Jakarta Convention Center (JCC), South Jakarta (11/10/2022).
“If we can strengthen this, we can be united, like when we handled the pandemic down to the regional and RT levels, everything moved, this would quickly solve the problems we face,” Jokowi explained.
On the occasion, Jokowi also re-emphasized the importance of increasing the purchase of domestic products. He encouraged the central and regional governments to allocate funds in the state revenue and expenditure budget (APBN) and regional revenue and expenditure budget (APBD) for spending on domestic products.
“This is APBN and APBD money that we collect from taxes, from royalties, from export duties, from non-tax state revenues we work hard to collect, collect and then spend on imported products, no, that’s not true at all,” he added.
The government through ministries, local governments, and State-Owned Enterprises (BUMN) are committed to purchasing domestic products. Jokowi is aware that the target for the domestic product budget set by the government has not been fully realized. However, he believes that the production capacity of MSMEs will increase if the budget can be realized to the fullest.
“Indeed, the realization for BUMN is only 72 percent, then for the APBN and APBD it is still small, still 44 percent of the figure I said earlier of Rp. 950 trillion. But if this is realized 100 percent later, it will be very clear that our SMEs must increase the production capacity of their products,” he explained.
In addition, Jokowi also encourages downstream programs in the industrial sector. The Downstream Program is expected to be one of the keys for Indonesia to move forward. According to Jokowi, this is because taxes, export duties, royalties, and non-tax state revenues (PNBP) will enter the country. He also said that the government is open to investors who will invest in the country. However, he reminded that the industry will also be able to cooperate with local entrepreneurs.
“I always say that the investment is open, but if you enter an area, you must cooperate with local entrepreneurs. Both (investors) from Jakarta and foreign ones, cooperate with local businessmen, they are invited,” Jokowi replied.
