Indonesia’s micro, small and medium enterprises sector – in which most Indonesians work - has been hard hit by public health measures in response to the pandemic and by the broader economic downturn. How have these impacts varied for different micro, small and medium enterprises? How has the sector adapted to the pandemic? And has government assistance addressed the sctor’s needs?

In this week’s Talking Indonesia podcast, Dr Dave McRae discusses these issues with by Nurul Widyaningrum, Executive Director of Akatiga, the Centre for Social Analysis, who has written widely about MSMEs in Indonesia.

Today’s episode is the latest in the “Policy in Focus” series of Talking Indonesia episodes, supported by the Knowledge Sector Initiative (KSI), a partnership between the Australian and Indonesian governments that aims to improve the use of evidence in development policymaking. This series will appear periodically in alternate weeks to the regular Talking Indonesia episodes. The views expressed in this podcast episode do not represent the views of the Australian or Indonesian governments.

The Talking Indonesia podcast is co-hosted by Dr Dave McRae from the University of Melbourne’s Asia Institute, Dr Jemma Purdey from Monash University, Associate Professor Dirk Tomsa from La Trobe University and Dr Charlotte Setijadi from the Singapore Management University.

Photo credit: Fikri Yusuf for Antara Foto