Jakarta. The Indonesian Export Financing Agency (LPEI), also known as the Indonesia Eximbank, has teamed up with the state-owned bank BRI to encourage more Indonesian small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to go global.

This partnership is also part of BRI’s so-called “Brilianpreneur” program. According to BRI’s assistant vice president for value chain and assets product development Silvi Augustia, this collaboration seeks to help enable Indonesian SMEs boost its global presence through a digital platform that LPEI is currently working on. 

“LPEI will soon launch a digital platform that is expected to bring positive impact for BRI’s SMEs so they can go international. Helping MSMEs is part of our support for the government’s goal of achieving a golden era by 2045,” Silvi was quoted as saying in a recent press statement.

LPEI’s SME advisory services head Lutpi Ginanjar said that Indonesia had not really tapped into its large export potential. Indonesia today still lacks a cross-border business-to-business marketplace that can help SMEs export its goods.

“ SMEs today only contribute 15.7 percent of the total exports, still far behind those of other countries like Singapore at 41 percent and China’s 60 percent,” Lutpi said.

Export-oriented businesses also still face some challenges in accessing the international market. Some entrepreneurs still lack knowledge on export licenses and cross-border logistics. There are also financing issues. LPEI today is currently developing a marketplace aimed at enabling SMEs to sell their goods overseas. This upcoming platform will partner with multiple export ecosystems. One of the flagship features is what they call the “Seller Curation”, which ensures international buyers that the sellers on the platforms have gone through a checking and validation process to prevent fraud. The curation process encompasses the registration, data verification, to seller's product assessment.

Indonesian Trade Promotion Center director Andri Satria Permana has high hopes for the upcoming LPEI digital platform.

“This Seller Curation feature can minimize the risk of fraud, giving buyers additional protection. The buyers will feel safer because they know that the sellers on the platform are verified and trustworthy,” Andri said.

Add as a preferred source on Google +