The Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) conducted a roadshow to Bengkalis Regency, Riau Province as a series of judging processes for the Kadin Impact Award (KIA), an event to develop regional economic potential and talent. Also present were KIA Digitalisation Category Judge Parlin Pasaribu, KIA Organising Committee Representative Feri Rizal, Chairman of Kadin Riau Province Masuri, and Chairman of Kadin Bengkalis Regency Ridho Nosa.

During this visit, Kadin Indonesia witnessed and experienced Kadin Bengkalis' initiative in encouraging the digitalisation of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) by utilising the local marketplace platform, Soodu.id. The collaboration between Kadin Bengkalis and Soodu.id makes digital technology more inclusive while opening up a wider market for MSMEs in Bengkalis Regency.

With the theme "One Kadin Builds the Nation", KIA is a form of Kadin Indonesia's appreciation to Provincial, Regency and City Kadins that have successfully developed empowerment programmes that have a positive social and economic impact. In this event, Kadin Indonesia conducted a series of assessments on 15 Regional Kadin programmes that significantly had a positive impact on their respective regions.

Acting Chairman of Kadin Indonesia, Yukki Nugrahawan, appreciated Kadin Bengkalis' efforts to proactively educate, encourage and bridge MSMEs to connect with the digital ecosystem. After joining the digital marketplace, MSMEs in Bengkalis now have greater opportunities to expand their market and develop their business.

"The use of digital platforms is a necessity for business actors to be able to face current and future challenges, especially for MSMEs. The Kadin Bengkalis programme is an example of inclusive and collaborative development of MSMEs and the regional economy. MSME players who take part in this programme and join Soodu.id now find it easier to market their products more widely, including to neighbouring countries such as Malaysia," Yukki said (30/9/2023).

Chairman of Kadin Riau, Masuri, said the background to the collaboration programme with Soodu.id is that many MSMEs in Bengkalis Regency are not ready to maximise the use of digital platform access. "There are three causes underlying the presence of Soodu.id, namely the low literacy of Bengkalis MSME players regarding the digital market, inadequate product branding, and lack of product innovation," said Masuri.

Masuri added that by overcoming these challenges, MSMEs in Bengkalis are expected to thrive in the digital market and boost the regional economy. "This collaboration is an important step towards creating a more digitalised, innovative and robust local business landscape, as well as having a positive impact on the economy of Riau province as a whole," Masuri emphasised.

CEO & Founder of Soodu.id and Chairman of Kadin Bengkalis, Muhammad Ridho Nosa explained that the collaboration programme between Kadin Bengkalis and Soodu.id began on 5 May 2020. This program is carried out through door to door socialisation from village to village to introduce the importance of business digitalisation through the 5+1 Sub-program from Soodu.id which can be utilised by MSMEs, namely the Soodu Online Store and Digital Market. id, SooduMall Centre for Featured Products, Soodumerchant (a gathering place for MSMEs to build networks with the tagline #PahlawanUMKMDaerah), Soodupedia (digital education and literacy services for MSMEs), Soodupos (digital financial recording services for MSMEs), and Soodublog (publication of the latest news related to this programme, interesting articles, and tips and tricks for MSMEs to go digital).

"Based on data as of September 2023, door to door socialisation from village to village through the Soodupedia sub-programme has succeeded in capturing 670 users who created accounts on Soodu.id to open their personal online stores and there are around 1,073 types of MSME products circulating on Soodu.id. We are committed to continuing to increase our joint efforts to empower MSMEs through digital technology," said Ridho.

The impact of the Kadin and Soodu.id collaboration programme can be seen from a number of indicators (data as of 30 September 2023) including the number of visitors reaching 87,834 people, 670 partners, 1,207 Stock Keeping Units (SKU), 411,970 product views, 99,303 requests with 80% sold and gross merchandise value (GMV) of Rp6,897,927,139.