Minister of Trade, Budi Santoso, revealed that the value of export transactions from micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) through the business matching program initiated by the Ministry of Trade has reached an impressive figure, namely USD 57.61 million or around IDR 946 billion (referring to an exchange rate of IDR 16,421 per US dollar). "We have recorded transactions worth USD 57.61 million from January to April. If converted into rupiah at an exchange rate of around IDR 16,500, that is close to IDR 950 billion," said Budi in his remarks at the Astra Export Champion event: MSMEs Can Export at the Ministry of Trade Auditorium, Jakarta, Monday (5/19/2025).
This business matching program is an initiative of the Ministry of Trade to connect domestic MSMEs with the international market. Through the active role of Trade Attachés and Indonesian Trade Promotion Centers (ITPC) spread across 33 countries, this program helps bring together MSMEs with potential buyers from abroad. "After business actors promote and introduce their products, trade attachés and ITPCs will look for potential buyers. If there are already buyers, then business matching will be carried out. All of these processes will also be assisted by the government," explained Budi. He also added that countries in the Southeast Asian region are still the main export destinations for Indonesian MSME products. Countries such as Hong Kong, Malaysia, and Taiwan show high demand. In addition, market potential is also starting to develop in the Middle East. "Because most of our MSME products are food and beverages, the largest market comes from countries that have many Indonesian citizens. For example, Malaysia, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Saudi Arabia. However, in general, almost all countries in Asia open up great opportunities for our MSME products," he said.
