The Indonesian Ministry of Trade (Kemendag) is planning to introduce an aggregator to enhance the competitiveness of local and export commodities, aiming to reduce dependency on imports. Trade Minister Budi Santoso emphasized that without competitive products, foreign goods would easily penetrate the market, including Indonesia's. The initiative is part of the Ministry's efforts to safeguard the domestic market. In September 2024, Indonesia's imports declined by 8.91% MoM to USD 18.82 billion, in line with a contraction in the Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI). The non-oil and gas sector imports dropped by 9.55%, while oil and gas imports fell by 4.53%.
Budi also highlighted another key program focusing on expanding export markets and empowering local SMEs to enter the global market. He acknowledged that Indonesia's entrepreneurial ratio is still low at 3.47%, far behind developed countries, where the figure stands between 10-12%. The Ministry of Trade aims to increase the export contribution from SMEs, supported by policies and internal resources. According to data from the Ministry of Cooperatives and SMEs, Indonesia currently has 4.9 million entrepreneurs, but reaching a 4% entrepreneurial ratio will require at least 800,000 new entrepreneurs.
