Indonesia had 4.43 million small and medium industrial businesses in 2025, according to data from the Central Statistics Agency. They made up about 99.79 percent of all industrial enterprises in the country. Now the Ministry of Industry wants the creative ones among them to innovate faster and sell abroad.
Reni Yanita, the ministry’s Director General of Small, Medium, and Miscellaneous Industries, laid out the priorities in Jakarta on Tuesday. “Our focus is on accelerating SME entrepreneurs, creating added value or downstreaming our natural resource potential, creating employment opportunities, and making these products go global,” she said.
Content skills, but product first
Reni described content creation as an important extra edge for small operators. Making videos and posts helps them promote products and keep customers engaged in a marketplace that is moving online.
She drew a line, though. “Content creation skills are increasingly important for promotion, improving market acceptance, and maintaining consumer loyalty,” she said. “But what is more important for an industrial entrepreneur is to continue innovating so that products remain competitive.” Digital skills, in her framing, support the product and cannot stand in for it.
The ministry also had praise for younger Indonesians who produce creative ideas through digital platforms, saying their contribution will matter to the future of the creative economy.
Why small firms matter
Reni said small and medium enterprises play a strategic role in the country’s industrial structure and in driving growth in the regions. The numbers back her up. In the first quarter of 2026 they accounted for 21.71 percent of national industrial output and employed more than 13 million workers in Southeast Asia’s largest economy.
Industry Minister Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita has said the creative industry has significant room to grow as more young consumers shape what sells. He said creativity has to go hand in hand with a firm grasp of shifting consumer preferences, or products lose their relevance and their edge.
To help with that, the ministry’s Center for Fashion and Craft Industry Empowerment keeps training SMEs in the fashion and craft sectors to read consumer behavior and build suitable business strategies.
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- Indonesia pushes creative sector SMEs to innovate and go global
- Human resource digital competence as a key to…
