Partnering with ASEAN-BAC, Ministry of Cooperatives and SMEs Hopes MSMEs Will Move Upmarket

13 September 2019 -

The Ministry of Cooperatives and SMEs in collaboration with the ASEAN Business Advisory Council (ASEAN-BAC) held a Pilot Launch of ASEAN Mentorship for Entrepreneurs Network (AMEN), at the Smesco Indonesia Building, in Jakarta. AMEN is a program initiated by ASEAN-BAC and became one of the 2019 Priority Deliverables of the ASEAN Coordinating Committee on Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (ACCMSME).

Victoria br Simanungkalit, Deputy for Production and Marketing of the Ministry of Cooperatives and SMEs said that the GDP contribution of Indonesian MSMEs reached 60.34 percent and contributed to the employment of more than 97 percent.

“We hope that through the AMEN programme, SMEs and the Government together with the Private Sector can jointly commit to developing great SMEs that control the national market and are able to speak at the regional and global levels,” Victoria said.

Supported by the Government of Japan through Japan-ASEAN Integration Fund (JAIF), AMEN was initiated by the Philippines with the main objective of establishing a platform for SMEs to be able to access 3M (Money, Market, Mentorship), as well as to increase capacity, productivity and encourage SMEs to upscale. Three important elements of the project are to produce certified mentors, develop mentoring modules, and establish an academy for mentors.