Jakarta, 17 October 2025 — The government has begun shifting its national export approach from simply increasing trade volume to strengthening market strategy.
This move is evident in the initiative by the Ministry of Trade (Kemendag) to collaborate with the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) and Astra in launching the Smart Export Strategy class at the Trade Expo Indonesia (TEI) 2025 event.

This programme highlights a classic pain point for Indonesian SMEs: they have quality products, but are stymied by their strategy. Of the more than 66 million SMEs in Indonesia, only around 35,000 to 40,000 are actively exporting.

Meanwhile, the national target requires the emergence of 500,000 new exporters by 2030, with SMEs contributing less than 15 per cent to exports.
This huge gap is proof that improving human resources in the field of exports is now an urgent need.

‘Exports are no longer just a matter of logistics or shipping goods. It's about the ability to read the market and manage bargaining positions,’ said Sugih Rahmansyah, Head of the Centre for Human Resource Development for Exports and Trade Services (PPEJP) at the Indonesian Ministry of Trade.

“We want to cultivate exporters who think strategically on a global scale from the production stage, not just after the goods are ready to be shipped.”

The Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin Indonesia) considers this collaboration an important step in strengthening national competitiveness amid the global economic slowdown.

‘Indonesia needs assertive exporters, not reactive ones. Global players win the market because they prepare strategies, not wait for opportunities,’ said Juan Permata Adoe, Deputy Chairman of Kadin Indonesia's Export Improvement Coordination.

From the private sector, Astra, through the Astra Foundation - Dharma Bhakti Astra Foundation, views the strengthening of export human resources as a long-term investment in Indonesia's economic resilience.

"We do not see training like this as a CSR activity, but as an investment. If SMEs understand the strategy, they can move up the ladder and enter the global supply chain," said Rahmat Samulo, Chairman of the Astra Foundation - Dharma Bhakti Astra Foundation.

With the theme ‘Discover Indonesia's Excellence: Trade Beyond Boundaries,’ TEI 2025 serves as a platform for transforming Indonesia's export paradigm from commodity-based to strategy- and value-added-based.

The Smart Export Strategy class is not just a training programme, but the beginning of a national movement to strengthen export capacity that places people as the main factor of competitiveness. With cross-ministerial support and institutional strengthening, this initiative has the potential to become a national programme for export human resource development, creating a generation of smart exporters who not only sell products, but understand how to win the global market.