The Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) will officially launch the export certification and development on 22 July 2024 at the Jakarta Convention Center (JCC). One of the main agendas of this event is to bring together Indonesian MSMEs with a number of potential buyers and Japanese companies.

This is a follow-up to the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed by the Chairman of Kadin Indonesia, Arsjad Rasjid with the Chairman of the Japanese Trade Organization (JETRO), Ishiguro Norihiko on 4 July 2024. This agreement aims to increase market access for national MSMEs, especially those that are export-oriented through one of Kadin's flagship programmes, WikiExport.

As is known, WikiExport has been developed since October 2022 in conjunction with the Inclusive Partnership Movement. WikiExport is Kadin's effort to increase the capacity of MSMEs including opening access to global markets, in this case through cooperation with JETRO. This programme is also a legacy of B20 with the aim of becoming a bridge between Indonesian MSMEs and Japanese companies that need various kinds of products from Indonesia.

Arsjad said that MSMEs provide crucial roles and contributions to achieve the 8% economic growth target. This includes when MSMEs have wider market access so that they will be able to increase the value of export trade.

"The role and contribution of MSMEs is crucial to achieving 8% economic growth. The growth of export-oriented MSMEs will help strengthen the fundamentals of the national economy. In addition, the wider market access of MSMEs will also increase the value of export trade. Therefore, collaboration and investment in developing the capacity of MSMEs as part of the local supply chain needs to be increased, so that they are ready to integrate into the global supply chain,’ said Arsjad.

According to him, this signing will also be the basis for mutually beneficial cooperation in the long run. Especially for companies from both countries including MSMEs that want to develop their markets in both Indonesia and Japan.

Continuation of the success of the previous collaboration

The second business matching to be held in September 2024 is a continuation of a similar activity last year in Tokyo, where Kadin brought around 9 Indonesian MSMEs that had completed export training through WikiExport and passed the curation. Some of these MSMEs are Pipiltin Cocoa, Alko Sumatra Coffee, Sukkha Citta, Shiroshima, House of Tea, Balista Coffee Liqueur, Sambal Pecah, Jamune, and Ohana Mie.

This collaboration is expected to optimise the development of national MSMEs, especially because market access can be opened more widely. Regarding WikiExport itself, the programme has now successfully provided training and certification to approximately 200 MSMEs and more will be added in the future.