Cianjur | The Department of Cooperatives and Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (Diskop UMKM) of Cianjur Regency
The Department of Cooperatives and Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (Diskop UMKM) of Cianjur Regency is currently inventorying a number of MSME (Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises) products that have not yet been certified. These products will later be proposed to the Ministry of Cooperatives and SMEs for certification.
"We welcome the program from the Ministry of Cooperatives. We are conducting an inventory of MSME products that currently do not have certification. We want all MSME products in Cianjur to be certified," said the Head of Diskop UMKM of Cianjur Regency, Ridwan Ilyasin, when met on Thursday (30/7/2015).
According to Ridwan, many MSME products are still uncertified. However, in terms of product quality, they are highly competitive with products from other regions. In fact, MSME products from Cianjur have already penetrated markets outside the region.
"This is also part of our preparation for facing the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC). So, there will be no need to worry if all products are certified. MSME products will be more competitive in the free market," he emphasized.
The department hopes that the Ministry of Cooperatives can provide subsidies for the certification of MSME products because the MSME players themselves have limited financial capacity.
"We hope this program will be responded to quickly and implemented soon. For now, we are focusing on the data collection process," Ridwan added.
Farid (30), an MSME entrepreneur from Cugenang District, welcomed the data collection of MSME products for certification purposes. As an MSME player, he hopes that his products can be certified, as this will affect sales.
"We had planned to process the product certification, but due to financial constraints, we have not been able to proceed. However, if there is a plan from Diskop to propose certification to the ministry, that is extraordinary, and of course, it would be a great help for us," Farid said when met separately.
The entrepreneur, who has been running a Cilok (tapioca ball snack) food business for around 10 years, admitted that his sales have expanded to the Bogor, Sukabumi, and Bandung areas.
"In Bandung, there was once a government agency that took samples of our products, and they passed the health test. But if we have official certification, our vendors will feel more secure in selling our products," he emphasized.
(Bisri Mustofa/A-147/pikiran rakyat online)