The Ministry of Cooperatives and SMEs (Kemenkop) held special training for sugar ant Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in Banyumas Regency, Central Java. The goal is to be more competitive to penetrate a wider export market. Deputy for Micro Enterprises of the Ministry of Cooperatives Yulius online at the opening of the Training for Export-Based Local Potential Micro Enterprises in Banyumas, said Banyumas Regency is one of the largest ant sugar or coconut sugar producing regions in Central Java which has reached the export market. "The ant sugar home industry is also growing along with the increasing demand for ant sugar in the domestic market and the global market," he explained.This has prompted the Ministry of Cooperatives to hold training for ant sugar business actors in Banyumas so that their competitiveness in the export market will increase. The training was held from 6 to 9 December 2022 in Banyumas. “Banyumas is known for its quality coconut sugar and is one of the districts with the highest production of coconut ant sugar in Indonesia. The diversification of coconut sugar products into ant sugar has even penetrated the export market," he explained. The training, which was attended by 35 ant sugar entrepreneurs, worked in synergy with seedbaik.com and the Office of Manpower, Cooperatives and UKM Banyumas. This training also presents experts in the field of exports and export business actors who provide insight and mindset for the export business to increase the capacity of ant sugar business actors. More than that, there are other supporting materials including tips on building a business foundation, Digital Marketing, E-Commerce Optimization, Advertising and Sales Planning, Selling Skills, Finding Potential Overseas Buyers. Then, Product Preparation, Price Calculation, Marketing, Sales, Payment, and Export Documents.
During the training, Business Matching was also carried out involving the Indonesian Trade Attache in Canberra, Australia, Agung Harris Setiawan. Furthermore, Yulius hopes that in this training, business actors can obtain information about the description of new export destination countries. By opening market access to new export destination countries, it will be able to increase the scale of ant sugar exports from Banyumas. Yulius encourages the training participants to take advantage of the three-day training. The goal is to add insight, build innovation, and become more stable in running a business. In addition, Yulius stressed the importance of adapting to changes in the existing environment and running collaborations or networks with fellow business actors. The ant sugar business, said Yulius, had contributed to Central Java's economic movement. Including contributing to national SME exports up to 14.4%. The increasing export of ant sugar is expected to have an impact on achieving the national SME export target.
