The Ministry of Economic Affairs, the Minister of Cooperatives and SMEs, the Chairman of the Board of Commissioners of OJK, the Governor of Bali, and the Governor of Bangka Belitung attended and fully supported the International Guarantee Corporation Seminar and the Asian Credit Guarantee Conference.
Nusa Dua | The Indonesian Association of Guarantee Corporations (Asippindo) considers the International Guarantee Seminar (IGS) and the 28th Asian Credit Guarantee Corporation Conference in Bali to be highly strategic. This event is crucial for broadening insights and enriching knowledge of credit guarantees from other countries to support the efficient and effective operation of Guarantee Corporations in strengthening Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises and Cooperatives (MSMEs).
Asippindo Chairman, Diding S. Anwar, while reviewing the event preparations, stated that all stakeholders could learn and share experiences from other countries in the field of credit guarantees. "We, particularly the 20 Asippindo members, want to learn about guarantees from other countries. We are grateful that the government and various stakeholders strongly support this event," he said in Nusa Dua, Bali, on Saturday night (14/11/2014).
So far, Diding continued, confirmations have been received from the Ministry of Economic Affairs, the Minister of Cooperatives and SMEs, the Chairman of the Board of Commissioners of OJK, the Governor of Bali, and the Governor of Bangka Belitung. They fully support the International Guarantee Seminar and the Asian Credit Guarantee Industry Conference.
Discussing learning opportunities, Asippindo's Chairman believes that by absorbing knowledge from other countries, along with various case studies, financial inclusion and increased financial access for MSMEs to capital sources can be achieved.
"So far, MSME credit guarantee practices in the country have been following the bank," he said.
He explained that with the prevailing indirect guarantee system, banks directly interact with MSMEs seeking loans. Only after that do the banks look for a guarantee corporation willing to back the credit. According to Diding, this business practice is also good, as has been applied in Japan and South Korea, where MSMEs have seen significant progress.
However, there is a bigger agenda to make MSMEs even stronger. "We believe that if guarantee corporations can also take the lead, rather than just following the banks, access to financing from financial institutions for MSMEs will improve significantly," said Diding, who also serves as the President Director of Perum Jamkrindo.
He explained that several countries have successfully implemented such practices, one of them being Malaysia. MSME players approach the guarantee corporation directly to obtain credit. The guarantee corporation then finds a bank willing to provide the loan.
Currently, Asippindo, through Jamkrindo, has established an institution responsible for performing rating functions and providing management consulting to MSMEs. This initiative will help MSME players enhance their business management capacity and capability. Furthermore, this rating institution, which functions as a database provider for the MSME market, can be utilized as a financing source reference. This will directly help reduce MSME market collection costs for financial institutions.
Completed Preparations
The Organizing Committee Chairperson, Nina Kurnia Dewi, stated that the preparations for the International Guarantee Seminar and The 28th Asian Credit Supplementation Institution Confederation (ACSIC) Conference in Bali from November 16-20, 2015, have been completed and are running smoothly. Participants from five continents and numerous countries have started arriving for this major guarantee corporation event. Among them are representatives from South Korea, Japan, Jordan, Italy, Chile, Tajikistan, and Ghana.
"For the International Seminar, we invited around 500 participants from both domestic and international backgrounds. However, the confirmed attendance exceeded the committee’s expectations, with a total of more than 650 participants. Meanwhile, for ACSIC, all delegations from the 11 member countries have confirmed their presence," she said.
She mentioned that Indonesia being entrusted as the host of the ACSIC Conference is an honor for the country. Through this event, it is hoped that all partner countries in the international guarantee industry can share experiences and knowledge to further develop the guarantee industry.
ACSIC, or the Asian Credit Supplementation Institution Confederation, is an association of credit guarantee/supplementation corporations in Asia that annually organizes conferences (ACSIC Conference) and training programs (ACSIC Training Program/ATP), held alternately in member countries.
ACSIC was founded in 1987 and currently consists of 11 countries with 16 member institutions. The ACSIC member countries are as follows: India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Nepal, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, and Sri Lanka.