Small and medium industries (IKM) which currently number 4.5 million business units contribute 99.77% of the total industrial business units. The number of IKM business units absorbs 65.52% of the total workforce in all industrial sectors or around 13.11 million industrial workers in that sector. Director General of Small, Medium, and Miscellaneous Industries (IKMA) of the Ministry of Industry (Kemenperin) Reni Yanita revealed that the value of IKM output to the non-oil and gas processing industry was recorded at 21.53% of the total value of national industrial output. Meanwhile, the year-on-year growth rate of IKM GDP was 5.26%.
She said that the growth of the manufacturing industry plays a role in increasing new jobs in various sectors. Therefore, the Ministry of Industry encourages new industries to grow, including by strengthening the skills of SMEs to be more productive, because they can absorb more workers. At a time when many industries face various challenges in running a business, she continued, the growth of SMEs spread across various regions is actually able to absorb new workers and contribute positively to the manufacturing industry sector. The Center for Empowerment of the Fashion and Craft Industry (BPIFK) which is under the Directorate General of SMEs, continues to provide online training to SMEs specifically in the fashion and craft sectors. The training is also related to leadership skills and designing product development ideas so that the business is more sustainable. Head of BPIFK Dickie Sulistya at the Marketing Series Webinar at the end of February said that running a business requires two skills, namely hard skills and soft skills. Hard skills are closely related to how to produce a product, while soft skills are closely related to how to manage a business so that it can run, be profitable, and develop in the future. The development of these soft skills is the core competency of BPIFK.
