The Minister of Cooperatives and SMEs, Sjarifuddin Hasan, said that Indonesia and South Africa (Afsel) are exploring cooperation in the Cooperatives and SMEs (KUKM) sector. "We have agreed to follow up this meeting with a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that we aim to sign by the end of this year," he said after receiving the South African delegation led by South Africa’s Minister of Trade and Industry, Rob Davies, in Jakarta on Thursday (19/10).
He stated that cooperation with South Africa is very promising for efforts to expand the market for Indonesian SME products. Moreover, South Africa is a country with the highest economic growth in Africa and has good trade relations with Europe, even serving as an international trading hub on the African continent. "Currently, we need to diversify the market for our SME products, considering that several countries that have long been Indonesia’s markets are experiencing economic slowdowns," he said.
The Indonesian government will offer an exchange of experiences in the development of SMEs in Indonesia, including on five areas that are of interest to the South African government regarding the development of cooperatives and SMEs in the homeland. "We will offer best practices in capacity building programs, technology concerns, marketing, institutional strengthening, and microfinancing," he said.
At the meeting, Sjarifuddin explained the condition of cooperatives and SMEs, noting that this year the number of cooperatives in Indonesia has reached 192,443 units, absorbing 425,882 workers. Meanwhile, the number of SME operators in 2012 has reached 55.2 million, or 99.9 percent of the total business actors in the country.
Rob Davies, on the same occasion, expressed his impression with Indonesia’s integrated efforts to develop cooperatives and SMEs across all provinces. "Therefore, we very much hope that we can mutually send delegations for an information exchange program on the development of the SME sector," he said.