Starfruit (malangkota.go.id) – Malang City hosted the 2024 Integrated Business Service Center for Cooperatives and MSMEs (PLUT KUMKM) Summit. The activity, which carried the theme 'Transformation of PLUT KUMKM in the Future: Active, Innovative, and Collaborative', was opened directly by the Minister of Cooperatives and MSMEs Teten Masduki at the Malang Creative Center (MCC) in Malang City, Friday (26/4/2024).
Minister Teten said that his party saw that Malang City could be a role model for other regions in creative economic development, so the Ministry of Cooperatives and SMEs chose the City of Education as a place of study for other regions by holding the PLUT KUMKM Summit activity in Malang City this year.
"MCC as a hub or incubator for creative young people like this I only found in Malang City. Because the Ministry of Cooperatives and SMEs sees that MCC has done well, we deliberately held the PLUT Summit event here so that those from various regions can learn to develop PLUT into a place for young people to develop and innovate their products and businesses like here," he explained.
Minister Teten said that Indonesia needs to produce new entrepreneurs so that it can create a new economy. Thus, it is hoped that Indonesia can become a developed country. The government must grow economic activities which will also become regional income through taxes. "Hopefully we can jump from a middle-income country to a high-income country, so that we are ready to become a developed country," he said.
To realize this, the Government is trying to continue to increase the role of MSMEs in the Indonesian economy. As in many other countries, MSMEs have shortcomings in the economic movement of a country. In APEC countries which also have developed countries as members, 97 percent of economic movement comes from MSMEs. Therefore, the presence of PLUT is expected to be a place for MSMEs to move up a class.
“In Japan and Korea, MSMEs are around 98 percent. So it’s not just a phenomenon in Indonesia. The difference is, MSMEs in Japan and Korea are already connected to industrialization. They are more productive, more connected to modern production systems that are also connected to global markets, financing and so on. Meanwhile, we, MSMEs are usually independent businesses because we are stronger in culinary, fashion, and crafts. If we are still developed in this sector alone, we will not be able to create a new economy. We must start developing MSMEs that become the supply chain for industry,” he explained.
Furthermore, Teten said that Indonesia has extraordinary domestic strength in the fields of agriculture and aquaculture which if developed with modern production technology will be able to present finished products and can also be a supply chain for national and even global industries. "This is the potential of our MSMEs. We will build modern small and medium-scale production houses managed by cooperatives to manage domestic resources," he concluded.
Acting Mayor of Malang Dr. Ir. Wahyu Hidayat who was present on this occasion expressed his pride that Malang City became the destination and host for the Ministry of Cooperatives and SMEs event. "It is an honor for Malang City to host the PLUT UKM Summit 2024. Through this event, other regions can see firsthand how the creative economy is developing in Malang City," he said.
Wahyu said that the Malang City Government also showed its consistency in developing the creative economy and MSMEs, not only by providing housing for the development of the creative ecosystem, namely MCC, but also by actually applying this commitment through the Kemis Mbois program which requires all employees in the Malang City Government to use local MSME products from Malang City. "Every Thursday we wear clothes that are local products from Malang City MSMEs. If not us, who else," said Wahyu.
Wahyu also hopes that the existence of PLUT will bridge MSMEs and industry so that they can work together. In addition, MSMEs are expected to be able to improve their knowledge and entrepreneurial skills and increase their competitiveness. "PLUT will bring MSMEs to a new era that is more advanced and prosperous. An active, innovative, and collaborative PLUT will be a strategic partner for MSMEs to grow further," said Wahyu.
For your information, the PLUT KUMKM Summit in Malang City was held on April 25-28, 2024. Various activities were carried out in the 2024 PLUT KUMKM Summit, including workshops, conferences, creative tours, and community gatherings. At the opening ceremony, an MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) was also signed between the Deputy for Micro Business at the Ministry of Cooperatives and SMEs and the Indonesia Creative Cities Network (ICCN). ICCN is a forum for creative people to develop their potential and MSMEs in Indonesia which are also government partners to encourage the progress of the MSME sector in Indonesia. (ari/yon)
