goodmorningpapua.com – Minister of Cooperatives and SMEs (Menkop-UKM), Teten Masduki, urged MSME actors from Papua to focus on developing excellent commodities that other regions do not have and expanding market reach through the digital ecosystem.
“This Papuan MSME product is good and is not inferior to product packaging that is widely spread on the island of Java. This can be a showcase for MSME products, especially with the increasing number of assistance, product curation, packaging branding that makes MSME products in Papua more attractive,” said the Menkop-UKM, Teten, at the inauguration of the Papua UMKM Gallery, in Jayapura, Papua, Wednesday (31/8/2022), citing a press release received in Jakarta.
At the same time, said Minister Teten, the Ministry of Cooperatives and SMEs (Kemenkop-UKM) also has a target for the KUMKM Integrated Business Service Center (PLUT) to assist MSMEs so that they enter the digital ecosystem, both at the Goods/Services Procurement Policy Institute (LKPP) of local Government for government procurement as well as in e-commerce. This is so that products from Papua can enter a wide market through the digital ecosystem.
“I think that this fostering of PLUT must be started and determined by MSME products that have local advantages. What is the hallmark of Papua, which ones will be for the local market and which ones are for the national market,” said the Menkop-UKM.
PLUT, he said, could help take care of distribution permits, including MSMEs that have joined PLUT for piloting the implementation of KUR clusters. “We are trying so that MSMEs connected to this PLUT can access financing easily, namely KUR Cluster with a maximum financing of IDR 500 million,” he said.
The government, said Minister Teten, has instructed 40 percent of the central and regional budgets to purchase KUMKM products so that in order to achieve this, MSME products need to be helped enter the e-catalog first. MSMEs have been given the convenience to enter through LKPP.
He further emphasized that Papua has many excellent commodities ranging from coffee, sago, marine products, to red fruit. In fact, there is also a breadfruit commodity which is currently being researched by a company to be processed into gluten free flour and products for baby food which are expected to capture a wider market.
Like coffee from Papua, said the Menkop-UKM, although it is still limited in terms of capacity, the provincial government has started to grow coffee in the Bintang Mountains. “The quality of this coffee from Papua is extraordinary because it is grown at an altitude of 2,000 feet above sea level. This is very rare, you could say it is in the class of world-class Arabica coffee,” he said.
In fact, he believes that if Papua continues to focus on its excellent commodity products, this can become the economic strength of the local community.
Assistant 2 of the Papua Regional Secretariat, Muhammad Musaad, added, the Regional Government has carried out the development of MSMEs, one of which is providing interest-free capital which is given to potential MSMEs selectively.
Currently, Musaad admits that one of the obstacles in developing MSME products is the market. For this reason, the Governor of Papua has written a letter regarding the proposal to reopen international flight routes to Papua, especially for non-passenger commodity transport flights.
“As such, Jayapura is expected to be a hub in and out for Papua, especially in the Asia Pacific region, the United States (US), a number of countries in Asia such as South Korea which is currently developing,” he said.
Musaad said that his party is also asking for a special promotion place in Jakarta as a development hub for the Java Island market and its surroundings. “It is hoped that these efforts can encourage Papuan MSMEs to advance to class and be able to compete with other provinces. We want to change the image of Papua for the better,” said Musaad.