Public Discussion: Business Solutions to Accelerate MSMEs in the Emerging Markets
MSMEs are one of the biggest economic driving forces in developing countries, including Indonesia. In fact, Indonesian MSMEs contribute 60.3% revenue to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and 97% of the national labor.
Nevertheless, MSMEs remain unable to escape the problems that have previously hampered the growth of their respective business. MSMEs still find it difficult to get funding assistance from financial institutions. As many as 40% of MSMEs in developing countries have not been accessed by financial institutions.
Knowing this fact, Tokoin gathered various parties, ranging from business people, financial institutions and the government, to unite ideas in trying to elaborate on the problems faced by MSME in a Public Discussion titled “Business Solutions to Accelerate MSMEs in Emerging Markets”.
Attending the event was Gati Wibawaningsih, the General Director of Small and Medium Industries, from Indonesia’s Ministry of Industries. Opening the public discussion, Gati Wibawaningsih said that the collective work of the private sector and government is the key in advancing Indonesia’s industrial sector. She invited all parties to collaborate to support Indonesia towards the era of the 4th industrial revolution for the sake of a better future for Indonesia.
Public discussion as an effort to unite ideas
Tokoin’d Public Discussion event was held with a talk-show format hosted by Mutia Rachmi, the Project Manager of Tokoin. This event invited four experts, each expressing their opinion about how to accelerate MSMEs. The speakers include Joseph Aditya (CEO of Ralali.com), Hadi Kuncoro (a supply chain expert from the Group CEO of PowerCommerce.Asia), Reiner Rahardja (CEO of Tokoin), and Gunhee Lee (a blockchain expert from Blockcrafter, South Korea).
As the CEO of Tokoin, Reiner Rahardja conveyed the reason why Tokoin is established. The problem regarding the absence of access to financial institutions is hampering the growth of MSMEs’ businesses. For example, a grocery store is almost certain to get a refusal when applying for a financial institution’s credit service as it is not considered credible enough to receive credit because, like other MSMEs, it does not have adequate infrastructure to establish credit scoring.
Tokoin is present with a long-term solution, which is facilitating MSMEs to build their business credibility through digital records of their business transactions initiated on Tokoin’s platform.
“As an entrepreneur, I really understand the difficulties of MSMEs in Indonesia to develop their business. In Tokoin, we strive to be the liaison for the MSMEs to gain access to institutions that can develop their businesses, such as banks and insurance companies,” — said Reiner.
Having a like-minded vision with Tokoin, Joseph Aditya as the CEO of Ralali.com felt that facilitating MSMEs with a platform which is able to build business credibility would truly help MSMEs accelerate. “MSMEs need a platform as an infrastructure to help them prove their credibility record,” he said. He added that
“In the era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, business is no longer limited to the activities of buying and selling products only. Business is also about how data can be recorded, secured, and distributed efficiently and effectively”.
Joseph Aditya saw that Tokoin is able to do this by implementing the blockchain in its business ecosystem.
By the same token, a supply chain expert, Hadi Kuncoro, justified how technology demands almost all sectors to adapt in order to accelerate synergistically, and this includes supply chain as one of the industrial sub-sectors.
“Both logistics and supply chain are required to adapt continuously to technological advancements, considering that this sector is one of the industries that is strongly supported by technological advances in methods and processes. For Tokoin, this is the challenge to implement this technology in MSME supply chain process. Moreover, the productivity of MSMEs as Tokoin’s users will increase.”- Hadi Kuncoro stated
Blockchain isn’t merely a crypto-exchange
The implementation of blockchain technology is not only limited to the use of crypto-currency as exchange commodities, which happened mostly in the beginning era of blockchain. At present, blockchain is undergoing a revolution. Blockchain 2.0 is more about utilization in business models.
A blockchain expert from Blockcrafter, South Korea, Gunhee Lee, explained what the business model is like when using blockchain on Tokoin’s platform. According to him:
“Tokoin is unlike any other projects because Tokoin aims to meet the needs of MSMEs, which will encourage rapid adoption of users and effective implementation. By answering the difficulties that have dragged down MSMEs’ growth, I am sure Tokoin will become a blockchain project that is very beneficial for the world of the MSME industry.” — Gunhee Lee
