Indonesian Trade Minister Zulkifli Hasan. (Photo: ANTARA)Jakarta (VNA) – Indonesian Trade MinisterZulkifli Hasan on January 4 said that the value of the country's digitalcommerce or e-commerce transactions in 2023 is estimated to have reached 533trillion IDR (34.35 billion USD), a 10.69% increase compared to the previousyear.
He said that the increase in Indonesia’s digitalcommerce transactions in recent years has shown that the sector has enormouspotential to be developed. In the future, digital economy management andoperation will support micro-, small- and medium-sized businesses.
To support the growth potential of digital commerce,the ministry has issued some regulations concerning business licensing,advertising, coaching, and supervision of business actors in commerce viaelectronic systems.
They regulate the separation between social commerce, e-commerce,and social media, and also stipulate a minimum price of 100 USD perunit for finished goods from abroad that can be directly sold by traders inIndonesia via cross-border digital commerce platforms.
In September 2023, Indonesia government issued ban one-commerce trade on social media, including TikTok Shop, a short-videoplatform owned by China’s ByteDance to halttransactions in Indonesia.
However, ByteDance in December 2023 announced an investment of 1.5 billion USD in GoTo technology firm of Indonesiafollowing an agreement to restart its shopping app in the Southeast Asiancountry.
Under the deal, the social media giant will combine itsIndonesian TikTok Shop business with GoTo’s e-commerce unit Tokopedia. TikTok gets a 75%stake in the combination, which will run the shopping features of TikTok’ssocial media app in Indonesia.
The transaction, which is expected to close in the firstquarter of 2024, is in line with the GoTo Group’s strategy to strengthen itsfinancial and strategic position by growing its total addressable market.
In addition, the government has issued apositive list, namely a list of goods that are allowed to enter Indonesiathrough digital commerce platforms, such as books, music, film, and software.
Foreign traders are also required to include proof of halalcertificates, comply with Indonesian standards, and include labels in theIndonesian language.
The minister underlined that the regulations aim to protectdomestic trade./.
