Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) of the Bangka Belitung Islands Province export various nipa stick crafts to Singapore, so as to encourage community economic growth in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. "Alhamdulillah, currently 30 SMEs have been exporting Nipah sticks to Singapore continuously," said the Head of the Babel Cooperative and UMKM Service, Yulizar Adnan, when releasing the export of nipa palm sticks to Singapore in Pangkalpinang, Tuesday. He said the initial export of various Nipah stick handicraft products such as multipurpose baskets, mirror frames, decorative lamps, gift boxes, drink bottles, table cloths, placements to Singapore because they are of high quality and are in demand as home decor products in Singapore. "The export of nipa palm sticks is a good first step and will continue to be carried out continuously. The release of this export proves that nipa palm sticks have quality, are able to compete, and are able to survive in the midst of a pandemic," he said.

According to him, the success of this export cannot be separated from the support of Bank Indonesia (BI) Babel and Pangkalpinang Customs and the collaboration of all parties in empowering and supporting Babylonian MSMEs to grow. "Babylon has abundant Natural Resources (SDA). These natural resources must be used properly and innovation is needed to become an efficient product to improve the community's economy in the midst of this pandemic," he said. The Head of KUKM added that the challenge ahead for MSMEs is the quality of their products which must be continuously improved. For example, the size of nipa palm sticks must have a standard. For that, we need a tool so that these Nipah sticks have the same size. "In the future, we encourage Babel SMEs to have Nipah sticks that have good standards and levels of curation. We will collaborate with other parties to make these shaved tools so that nipa palm stick craft products meet international curation," he said. Head of BI Representative for Bangka Belitung, Budi Widihartanto, said that the export of Nipah sticks is a form of good synergy between BI Babel, the Babel KUKM Service, Customs and various other parties. "Synergies like this are very important so that they can grow and encourage exports of MSME products. We will always support MSMEs so that they can continue to improve product quality in accordance with world market trends," he said.

Source: https://m.antaranews.com/berita/2761137/umkm-babel-ekspor-kerajinan-lidi-nipah-ke-singapura