Central Bank encourages MSME players in Papua to utilize digital technology

MSME players in Papua

Jayapura (ANTARA) – Bank Indonesia (BI) encourages Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) or UMKM in Papua Province to utilize digital technology to expand the market share of their products.

Head of the Papua Province Representative Office (KPwBI) Naek Tigor Sinaga in Jayapura, Friday said the COVID-19 pandemic that hit Indonesia had a profound impact on various industrial sectors, based on information from the Ministry of Cooperatives and SMEs, the decline in turnover of MSME players due to this outbreak was more than 50 percent due to reduced purchasing power.

“To overcome the decline in turnover, MSMEs are required to be able to adapt and survive the plague. Various ways have been started, such as changing the way sales are online, adding product variations to changing business patterns,” he said.

According to Naek, in line with KPwBI Papua’s commitment to the MSME players in Papua development program in Papua, his party is implementing the Papuan UMKM “On-Boarding” program as an effort to provide assistance to MSMEs, as well as an effort to maintain the economy of the Cenderawasih Earth.

“This on boarding is carried out with the aim of encouraging MSMEs in Papua to use and adapt to digital technology, to be able to expand the market share of their products, where through digital technology it is hoped that Papua’s superior products can be marketed in other regions,” he said.

He explained that the implementation of “on boarding” is also aimed at encouraging the creativity of MSMEs players in order to develop a variety of products according to market demand and be able to build a sustainable business.

“The hope is that through the Papuan UMKM On-Boarding program, Bank Indonesia can make a real contribution to the assistance and development of MSMEs in Papua so that more and more business actors will be digitized and more local products will compete with products from other regions,” he said.

He added that this UMKM On-Boarding activity will be carried out on a weekly basis, from August to December 2020, where the sources and materials provided will vary each week according to the needs and conditions of MSME players in the field.