UNS – A Professor from Universitas Sebelas Maret (UNS) Surakarta discusses the condition of Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises due to the Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) pandemic. This discussion was delivered directly by the UNS Professor in Agricultural Socio-Economic Sciences, the Faculty of Agriculture (FP) UNS, Prof. Darsono.
In the webinar on ‘The Impact of COVID-19 on Indonesia MSME (Especially in Soloraya)’ on Thursday night (9/4/2020), Prof. Darsono describing COVID-19 by using tsunami as an analogy. This analogy is made by Prof. Darsono without no reason, because by reflecting on the facts and data, COVID-19 has infected hundreds of countries in the world, both across regions and continents.
“One thing that we should consider together is, this is like a tsunami, this pandemic is an initial tsunami that hit human civilization across countries and continents. In fact, its impact also felt directly through the rural (village) area,” said Prof. Darsono opening the webinar.
With the establishment of the world health status as COVID-19 pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO), Prof. Darsono reveals his concern over the interruption of the supply chain of production and consumption due to the ‘shock’ in economics activity especially in Surakarta, Boyolali, Sukoharjo, Karanganyar, Wonogiri, Sragen, and Klaten region or normally known as ‘Subosuka Wonosraten’ region.
Aside from that, Prof. Darsono also detailing the economic sector that becomes the pillar of the community’s life in Soloraya. This because the economic typology in each region is different.
“For instance, in Klaten the dominant sector is agriculture. But, the education level of its community is high. There are different typologies, thus the data management of the region should be adjusted to the characteristic of the region to avoid misdirection,” Prof. Darsono continues.
The ‘Subosuka Wonosraten’ region that dominated by the agriculture and industry sector is considered to have various advantages and disadvantages. The MSME sector can take advantage and continue their business during the COVID-19 pandemic because this sector is one of the flexible business sectors. This different from the big industry that will face difficulty if they have to ‘swerve’ during the crisis.
In line with Prof. Darsono, the Founder of Bukalapak, Achmad Zaky mentioned that MSME has the advantage when they have to survive its business activity in the midst of the crisis.
“One of the most superior MSME characteristics is their agility and speed in ‘swerving’. Today they sell bakso, tomorrow they can sell other products. MSME can take advantage of this condition by selling vitamin, health products, and staple foods,” said Achmad Zaky.
As the founder of one of the biggest e-commerce in Indonesia, Achmad Zaky mentions that the impact felt by online entrepreneurs are lower than those of their offline counterpart. In fact, when the online business can only reach a 5% growth, the offline business can reach up to 50% growth. However, this should be anticipated because, amid the crisis, which leads to a decline in people’s purchasing power, the offline business can face a significant decline compared to online business.
To anticipate this decrease, Sandiaga Uno, requested that MSME entrepreneurs can provide daily necessities and health product needed by the public. Besides answering public demand, this method, according to Sandi, the best way for MSMEs to survive.
“There are new opportunities such as Jamu, mask, personal protective equipment, and vitamin. This crisis can give many opportunities aside from the problems arise. For the next 3 months there will be a great demand for daily necessities and food,” said Sandi.
In front of the webinar participants, Sandi gives several inputs for the current condition of the Indonesia economy, which was quite shaken by the COVID-19 outbreak.
“First, Cash is the King, we need to secure liquidity and solvency. Cut unnecessary costs for which does not generate income. Second is Adapt to The New Normal. We need to quickly find new solutive and massive opportunities. Optimize marketing, payment, and fulfillment. Third is Survive Through Ecosystem, we need to strengthen our mindset and establish a network. Take the benefit from the banking system and the government’s aids to mitigate business risk. Fourth is Invest in This Time. We need to improve the process, quality, and efficiency. And the last is Calm In the Storm. We need to remind ourselves to not establish overly long-term planning. Currently, the condition is changing rapidly,” Sandi concluded. Humas UNS/Yefta