Draft Regulation on e-Commerce to Prioritize Domestic Products: Official

Jakarta: The draft government regulation on e-commerce will prioritize domestic products, Director General of Domestic Trade of the Trade Ministry Tjahya Widayanti stated.

"The draft regulation on e-commerce has yet to be finalized. However, it will prioritize domestic products," Widayanti noted here on Wednesday.

The draft regulation on electronic-based national trade system (SPNBE) has been discussed since 2015.

Widayanti remarked that despite its priority on domestic products, the regulation will not explicitly mention the required percentage of domestic products that should be offered in online trading.

"However, we will prioritize domestic products to be sold on the e-commerce platform," she stated.

She admitted that the number of domestic products offered in e-commerce are limited, so the government has continued its efforts to increase online selling of domestic products.

"During the 'Harbolnas' (national online buying day) recently, we have set a certain time to sell only domestic products," she added.

Widayanti could not as yet confirm whether the government would provide incentive for online platforms that sell domestic products, saying that they had yet to conclude the discussion on the draft regulation.

According to the Central Statistics Agency (BPS), Indonesia recorded a trade deficit of US$1.16 billion in January 2019. The number increased by US$0.13 billion compared to the previous month.

Indonesia's export value reached US$13.87 billion last month. It declined by 3.24 percent compared to the previous month.

The country's import value reached US$ 15.03 billion last month. It declined by 2.19 percent compared to the previous month.

In the meantime, Indonesian economy grew by 5.17 percent in 2018. It was Indonesia's highest annual growth in five years.

Indonesian economy grew by 5.18 percent in the fourth quarter of 2018. It was slightly stronger than earlier expectations. (Antara)

(WAH)

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