Encouraging SMEs to Dare to Export, Disdagin Bandung City Holds Mentoring Go Export

The Bandung City Department of Trade and Industry (Disdagin) held a Go Export Mentoring Program for 61 business actors in the City of Bandung, at the Fox Harris Lite Hotel Ballroom in Bandung, Wednesday (16/3/2022).

Disdagin brought together experienced speakers in their fields, such as Eriklex D Sahusilawane from EXPORT 5.0, Nico F Pattinasarany from UKMHub, and Mashuri Damas from the English Solution Center (ESC), to provide exposure to technical knowledge related to exports.

After providing technical materials, the mentoring program was continued with a virtual International B2B Trade Forum (Business Matching) with potential buyers from Bangladesh.

In his remarks, the Ambassador Extraordinary Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Indonesia in Dhaka, Bpk. Heru H. Subolo said that Bangladesh is one of the countries with potential for export by presenting 55 business actors who are members of the Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Cittagong Women's Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Bangladesh virtually.

The Bandung City business actors who were presented included restaurant and catering, retail and fashion owners who were associated with 61 Go Export participants ranging from food products, fashion, batik and handicrafts so that they were expected to increase trade relations between Indonesia, especially the cities of Bandung and Bangladesh.

Eriklex Donald with the material "South Asia Market Penetration Strategy" invites the participants to realize that in this South Asian region, export commodities from Indonesia are in great demand. The Bangladeshi market, for example, is a potential market for exports of vegetable fats and oils, salt, clothing, or cotton.

“Bangladesh opens the widest possible market for Indonesian products. We can export a lot of our commodities to this country. For that, after this presentation, we will continue our session with business matching so that the output of this program is concrete,” said Eriklex.

Meanwhile, Nico F Pattinasari who discussed "Brand Management for Export-oriented SMEs" emphasized that SME players need to understand the importance of a brand to support marketing a product. A brand that includes a logo, color, and slogan is an inherent identity and serves as a differentiator between one product and another.

“Brands are very important to win the market, especially to penetrate the export market. For that, a brand must be prepared carefully, both in design and color. What must be remembered in creating a brand is simplicity and uniqueness so that it is easily remembered by the market,” explained Nico.

To complete the readiness of SMEs to go export, Mashuri Damas taught participants how to communicate in English through letters with potential buyers. With the material "Business Correspondence", Damas reminded that writing a good and correct letter is very important because it represents the professionalism of a business.

“In writing letters in English, we must really understand things such as letter style, letter format, punctuation marks, choice of appropriate vocabulary, and correct grammar. Just a little mistake will be able to make potential buyers judge our unprofessionalism," said Damas.

Business Match

It is important to know that business actors who are participants in the Go Export Mentoring Program are those who have export-oriented products. The participants have been curated by the Disdagin & UKMHub team from hundreds of registered participants. During the B2B International Trade virtual session, the 61 participants were met with 55 entrepreneurs who are members of the Dhaka Chambers of Commerce and Industry and the Cittagong Women Chambers of Commerce and Industry.

The Business Matching which was held virtually via zoom was opened by the Head of the Bandung City Trade and Industry Office, Ir. Hj. Elly Wasliah.

"The virtual business match that we are carrying out today is an alternative strategy to deal with trade promotions that cannot be carried out abroad due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic," said Ir. Hj. Elly Wasliah in her speech.

The business meeting or business matching will be followed up by sending samples and other activities needed by both parties so that trade transactions occur between business actors in Indonesia and Bangladesh. (IS/al/Ril)