Entrepreneurs Are Furious That E-commerce Is Controlled By Foreigners, Especially China: The Price Is Very Cheap Compared To Domestic Products

Illustration. (Photo: Pixabay)

JAKARTA - The Indonesian Employers' Association (Apindo) is furious that many foreign products, especially from China, are being sold in domestic e-commerce. In fact, small and medium-sized businesses have complained that the prices for these products are much cheaper than domestic products.

Chairman of Apindo Hariyadi Sukamdani said the imported goods were sold very cheaply, so they could quickly dominate the market.

"We see that there are still many complaints about goods from outside, especially from China, they are still being sold on the platform at very cheap prices," he said in a virtual press conference, Thursday, December 9.

Furthermore, Hariyadi explained that the government had made a policy of setting an import duty of 7.5 percent for goods with a value above 75 US dollars. However, it has not succeeded in suppressing imported goods.

Therefore, said Hariyadi, the government was asked to pay close attention to the problem. The goal is to create fair business competition.

"Don't let injustice be like that. So don't do dumping or violate the rules so that someone can sell very cheaply. Even though it shouldn't be like that," he explained.

Apindo also provides notes for the government. The first is to prioritize improving broadband access and service quality to encourage the adoption of digital technology by SMEs.

Then, continued Hariyadi, helping small business actors to increase competitiveness based on digital, legal, and global orientation through structured and measurable assistance.

Therefore, said Hariyadi, coordination, and synchronization also need to be carried out between agencies, the private sector, and the academic world. As a result, programs can be designed to empower MSMEs.

"And also access to electronic payments. Access to this market also needs to be supported," he said.

Not only that, according to Hariyadi, the government must also expand domestic and international access to investment openly to all sources and types of capital. This is so that SMEs and SMIs can benefit from wider access to online microfinance tools.

"Electronic government services (e-government) also need to be expanded so that more SMEs move up in the level of digital use," he said.