Indonesia holds online halal products' management training for MSMEs

Jakarta (VNA) – The Indonesian government is holding an online training on digitalisation of marketing and management of halal products of micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to facilitate boosting capacity and productivity amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto said the programme is conducted by the government with the involvement four digital partners -- LinkAja Syariah, Tokopedia Salam, Blibli Hasanah, and Bukalapak. The programme scheduled to be held from October to December this year and is open to the public and can be held on a large scale in future.

After participating in the training program, participants, deemed to have met the qualifications, will receive halal certification and be directed to access coaching services in the regional MSME integrated business service centre, he said, adding the first stage of training prioritised groups of ministries and agencies as well as community organisations.

The programme will be followed by about 1,000 MSME businesses, according to Minister of Cooperatives and SME Teten Masduki.

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought about an indirect change in consumer behaviour in the way they shop, with the current switch to online transactions through digital platforms.

However, business transformation through the utilisation of digital technology cannot be optimally conducted right away by MSME players. They are constrained by problems of product quality, production capacity, and digital literacy that had yet to be mastered.

According to the State of Global Islamic Economy data for the 2019-2020 period, the spending of Muslims stood at 2.2 trillion USD in 2018, and is projected to reach 3.2 trillion USD by 2024./.