Minister Teten Did Not Attend The Meeting With TikTok To Discuss Project S, This Is The Reason

JAKARTA - Minister of Cooperatives and SMEs Teten Masduki was not present when TikTok Indonesia visited the Ministry of Cooperatives and SMEs (Kemenkop UKM) to discuss a number of trade issues on social-commerce, such as TikTok Project S which was widely discussed on social media.

Special Staff to the Minister of Cooperatives and SMEs for Creative Economy Empowerment, Fiki Satari, revealed the reason for the absence of Minister Teten at the meeting. According to him, the Assistant Deputy (Asdep) of SMEs held the meeting and not MenKopUKM Teten.

"From the start, it was us who invited us (TikTok). So, Mr. Asdep assigned us," Fiki told reporters at the KemenKopUKM Building, Jakarta, Wednesday, July 26.

Even so, Fiki did not deny the desire of TikTok Indonesia to meet face to face with Minister Teten. "There is communication from TikTok that wants to meet with the minister (Teten Masduki), we are still waiting for the letter," he said.

Meanwhile, continued Fiki, Minister Teten is said to be attending another previously scheduled agenda. "Pak Teten does have his own agenda today. So, indeed (Pak Teten) was not present at this event from the start," he said.

On the same occasion, none of the TikTok directors were present. TikTok representatives who attended were TikTok Indonesia's Head of Communication Anggini Setiawan.

"That's right, what was here was me, then with Mas Wahid Head of Government Relations and a number of communication teams," said TikTok Indonesia Head of Communications Anggini Setiawan.

In a meeting with the Ministry of Law and Human Rights, TikTok confirmed that there were no plans to launch Project S in Indonesia.

"We also say that we have no intention of creating our own e-commerce product or to become a whole seller (Project S) who will compete with local sellers in Indonesia," he explained.