West Papua MSME Premium fashion items from Papua needed to be globally marketed. I Wayan Yogasvara, an economist at the Bank Indonesia Representative Office in West Papua, believes that the region’s MSMEs should be encouraged to increase market access for their superior goods, especially outside the area, through online trade (e-commerce).
MSME Sales are Increasing
According to West Papua BI statistics, the nominal sales of goods through electronic trade activities in February 2022 totaled Rp2.39 billion, according to Yogasvara, who met in Manokwari on Thursday.
Compared to February 2021, the value of electronic commerce transactions for product sales only reached Rp. 213.68 million, there was a substantial increase of 1,021 percent.
A total of 4,776 products were traded, up 2,300% from 199 products last year.
According to the product category, he added that mobile phone products (mobile phones) and accessories, computers and accessories, and cars and accessories accounted for most of the commodities sold by the people of West Papua through e-commerce in February 2022.
He claims that the rise in electronic commerce sales transactions in fashion items from Papua over the previous year shows that the community or MSME actors are transitioning from utilizing conventional sales techniques to digital sales transactions.
“MSMEs are beginning to change or add digital sales strategies to increase market share. According to the category, the vast majority of items offered through online shopping are practically identical to those already owned, particularly cellphones and accessories, said Yogasvara.
Fashion Items from Papua Production Decrease
In contrast, BI reported that the volume of goods purchases made through electronic trading fell by Rp 11.73 billion, or -12 percent, from the previous year when it reached Rp 13.35 billion.
In keeping with the nominal transaction’s slowdown, there was a slowdown in the volume of buy transactions in February 2022, which totaled 41,123 items, a reduction of 21% from February 2021’s 52,039 items.
Mobile phone accessories, fashion, and cosmetics are the most popular fashion items from Papua categories purchased by West Papuans using electronic trading facilities and product sales transactions utilizing these facilities.
Bank transfers account for 54% of all transactions for buying and selling goods through electronic commerce. Electronic money accounts for 13% of all trades, and cash accounts for 12% of all businesses.
Following President Joko Widodo’s directives, the Communication and Information Ministry is promoting the development of eastern Indonesia by encouraging micro, small, and medium-sized firms (MSMEs) to use digital technologies.
During a conference on MSME digitalization, I Nyoman Adhiarna, head of the ministry’s digital economy, remarked, “With a better degree of digital technology application, the competitiveness of MSMEs would also be higher.” According to a formal announcement obtained on Saturday, the event is taking place in Ternate, North Maluku, to increase marketing access.
Several professionals discussed the usage of digital applications at the session. According to Adhiarna, the participants were excited to adopt new technologies. He said that he thinks MSMEs would expand more quickly and surpass government projections if they showed the same excitement as Ternate.
Naturally, this serves as inspiration for the Directorate of Digital Economy to develop better and more valuable initiatives to support MSMEs as fashion items from Papua, he continued.
Hadwin Rarumangkay, the chief operating officer of Qasir, was one among the specialists present. They purposefully developed QRIS to be a user-friendly, simple to learn how to use, and extremely reasonably priced program for bookkeeping and cash recording for MSMEs (only Rp1 thousand per day).
They Said About the MSME Program from the Agency
The head of the coordinating team for the research and impact survey of MSMEs at the Ministry of Communication urges Ternate MSMEs to use digital technology after the talk show. The Ministry of Information, Puti Adella Elvina, purchased a sample of participants’ processed goods. She also promoted the usage of electronic payment methods.
“We appreciate the attendees who took the time to bring samples of the processed fashion items from Papua. She replied that we exclusively accept cashless payments; you may use any cash wallet or QRIS.