The Ministry of Industry (Kemenperin) emphasizes the importance of fulfilling the Indonesian National Standard or SNI for industrial products. In addition to being a technical requirement in ensuring aspects of health, work safety and the environment (K3LH), SNI can also be added value and give strength to a product to penetrate the export market. One of the success factors for Indonesia's manufacturing exports is the fulfillment of SNI. "This shows the acceptance (acceptancy) of the international market to the basic requirements (base requirements) set out in the SNI," said Minister of Industry Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita when releasing the export of Element bicycle products from PT. Roda Forward Happy to Malaysia online, Wednesday (13/10). This shows that the quality of products that have met SNI standards have also received recognition from the global market. For this reason, the Ministry of Industry continues to support industry players, especially those with small and medium scale industries (IKM) to be able to fulfill the obligation to obtain SNI. "Moreover, two-wheeled bicycle products are subject to mandatory SNI enforcement," explained the Minister of Industry.
The regulation is set to improve the competitiveness of national industries and create healthy competition. "Enforcement of regulations also encourages domestic products to be competitive, so that they are able to meet the needs of the domestic market as well as exports," he said. The Minister of Industry also explained that the success of this export is also the fruit of investment. This means that Indonesia is able to create a conducive business climate and has become a production base to fulfill the needs of the domestic market and meet global consumer demands. "Investment and exports are important keys for accelerating national economic growth so that inequality and poverty can be reduced or suppressed," said Agus. Therefore, the government focuses on continuing to increase investment and exports in order to accelerate the national economic recovery due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. "Investment and exports are encouraged, especially in the non-natural resource sector which provides added value and involves a broad value chain such as the bicycle industry sector," he added. For that, the Minister of Industry gave his appreciation to PT. Roda Maju Bahagia, which has exported its 50th bicycle under the Element brand.
The Minister of Industry emphasized that the government will continue to provide various facilities in the investment sector, especially for export-oriented industries. “One by one the problems that hinder our export performance are looked at and we look for solutions. We will continue to simplify and cut down on regulations and bureaucratic procedures that are considered complicated and hinder the investment and export process," he explained. Next, the government is also active in accelerating the negotiation of comprehensive economic partnership agreements (CEPAs), especially with potential countries that are markets for export products from Indonesia. "We also continue to strive to create new markets in non-traditional countries so that our export market is wider, in addition to optimizing various existing trade agreements," he said.
The Minister of Industry added that the current pandemic situation has an impact on the export market. However, Indonesia must look at the export market opportunities that are still wide open in countries that are also experiencing a pandemic. “Our potential is still very large, both in terms of product diversity, in terms of creativity and quality, in terms of volume, as well as in terms of export destination countries. The key to success in taking advantage of various situations, especially in increasing exports, is to be proactive and not passive,” he said. The image of Indonesia as an industrial country has also been recognized worldwide, which can be seen from the increasing level of international market acceptance of national industrial products. In fact, Indonesia's trade balance in January-August 2021 as a whole recorded a surplus of USD 19.17 billion, much higher than the achievement in the same period in 2020 which reached USD 10.96 billion. "We believe this surplus figure can be achieved even higher with the commitment and hard work of all of us," he explained.
