Indonesia Posts USD 251 Million in MSME Export Deals in H1 2026

RRI.CO.ID, Jakarta - The Ministry of Trade’s “Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises: Daring to Innovate, Ready to Adapt to Export” (UMKM BISA Ekspor) program continues to expand opportunities for MSMEs to enter global markets. In the first half of 2026, the program recorded export transactions worth USD 251 million.

Trade Minister Budi Santoso said that 60–70 percent of MSMEs supported through the program are business owners who had never exported before.

“We facilitate them online, and we’ve never met them face‑to‑face, either,” Minister Budi said at the Launch of the Local Product Acceleration Program at Taman Mini Indonesia Indah (TMII) in Jakarta on Thursday, August 13, as quoted by Antara.

The UMKM BISA Ekspor program is designed to provide business owners with access to overseas consumers and buyers. The mechanism connects MSMEs with Indonesia’s network of trade representatives abroad, including Trade Attachés and the Indonesian Trade Promotion Center (ITPC).

Through this network, MSMEs present their products to trade representatives, who then help identify potential buyers. After a suitable buyer is found, business owners make another presentation to continue negotiations.

The program’s performance in the first half of 2026 also surpassed the results achieved throughout 2025. Last year, UMKM BISA Ekspor facilitated 1,217 businesses, with transactions totaling USD 134.87 million, consisting of purchase orders worth USD 57.45 million and potential transactions worth USD 77.42 million.

These results are approaching the target of approximately USD 300 million that Minister Budi previously projected for 2026.

The Ministry carries out these facilitation efforts with the support of 46 ITPCs in 33 countries. This network provides information on target markets and connects MSMEs with potential international buyers.

Minister Budi also encouraged MSMEs to utilize e‑commerce as an initial step toward exporting. Retail transactions with foreign consumers can develop into business‑to‑business (B2B) relationships.

“The buyer might actually be an importer. Once the importer buys the product and realizes it’s good, communication can then lead to exports,” said Minister Budi. ***