JAKARTA — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Tuesday said he was considering replicating Indonesia’s state-owned mall that showcases micro, small, and medium enterprise (MSME) products.

Indonesian President Joko Widodo gave Marcos and Philippine First lady Liza Marcos a tour of the Sarinah Mall during the Filipino leader's first state visit here.

“‘Yung mall na pinakita sa amin, gobyerno ang may-ari at saka ang produktong pinagbibili doon sa loob ng mall, lahat local. Lahat MSMEs. Lahat maliliit,” Marcos told reporters.

“Pagka masyado nang lumaki, hindi na sila pwede doon sa mall. Lilipat sila doon sa regular na mall,” he said.

(The mall is government-owned and all products there are locally-made, all from MSMEs. When a business gets too big, it is no longer allowed in the malls and will transfer to a regular mall.)

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The consumer profiles of the Philippines and Indonesia share similarities, Marcos said. He added that business ideas from Southeast Asia’s largest economy seemed doable in the Philippines.

“‘Yun ang idea nila. So sabi ko, baka pwede natin gawin sa Pilipinas,” he said.

(That was their idea. So I said, perhaps we could do it in the Philippines.)

About 99 percent of businesses in the Philippines were classified as MSMEs in 2020, according to government data.

Marcos said he informed Widodo about the Philippines' “one town, one product strategy,” in which the government helps small communities develop items unique to their respective localities.

“I was describing ‘yung OTOP, ‘yung one town, one product. Sabi ko, pero maliliit. So kailangan turuan and nag-agree naman kami,” Marcos said.

“Sabi niya, oo, kailangan natin turuan ‘yung packaging, ‘yung market, kung ano ‘yung hinahanap sa merkado. How do you business plan? ‘Yung mga ganun klaseng bagay,” he said.

(But I said, these are small communities and we agreed that they need to be taught. He said we should teach them about packaging, the market, what is in demand.)

“Pareho sa atin kaya’t the parallels between the Indonesian experience and the Philippine experience are very evident. So we will build on that,” he said.

Marcos described his first state visit in Indonesia as “more productive than we have expected.”

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