Coordinating Minister For SMEs Teten Masduki: President Jokowi Intervenes To Solve The Problem Of Revision Of Permendag Number 50/2020

Minister of Cooperatives and Small and Medium Enterprises (Menkop UKM) Teten Masduki. (Photo: Doc. Antara)

Minister of Cooperatives and Small and Medium Enterprises (Menkop UKM) Teten Masduki said President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) intervened to resolve the issue of revising the Regulation of the Minister of Trade (Permendag) Number 50/2020 to protect MSMEs in the country.

"I have been summoned by the President and later the President through Pak Pratikno (Mensesneg) will immediately resolve this issue," said Teten Masduki, after opening the School Cooperative Revitalization Seminar, at SMA Muhammadiyah 1 Yogyakarta, quoted from Antara, Saturday 22 July.

Teten said that the revision of Permendag Number 50/2020 concerning Business Licensing, Advertising, Development and Supervision of Business Actors in Electronic Trade (PPMSE) urged to protect MSMEs from business competition in the e-Commerce market.

"This has actually been discussed since the time of the Minister of Trade, Mr. Lutfi, it's almost finished with harmonization, now when Mr. Zulhas (Zulkifli Hasan) changes it again, so when I was protested by MSME friends, I just shouted," he said.

According to Teten, one of the threats of MSMEs in the e-Commerce market is the emergence of trading patterns by utilizing social commerce such as Project S released by TikTok social media.

Through the Project S of Tiktok Shop, Tiktok is thought to be able to find out various data on various products that are in great demand or needed by consumers in Indonesia, then the algorithm machine directs consumers to buy company products that are affiliated with them.

"They have AI (artificial intelligence) technology that can know what Indonesian demand is. They have an intelligence market that knows exactly what our market needs, what Malaysia needs, what England needs. If we continue to be a stupid nation because we don't want to manage this, this is our territory, our end," he said again.

Through this revision, Teten suggested that online or online retailers no longer be allowed, because through this facility they can bring in goods or imports directly from abroad without going through a series of permits.

"From abroad they enter here via e-Commerce without them taking care of distribution permits, halal certification, and standardization of all kinds, while MSMEs here have to take care of distribution permits, there must be halal certification, there must be SNI, pay taxes," he also said.

Next, Teten also proposed a rule that e-Commerce or social commerce such as TikTok only applies as a stall, so they cannot sell their own products.

"They can't sell their own products, if they sell their own products, the algorithm itself will direct them to their products," said Teten.

Finally, the selling price of imported products through a cross-border e-Commerce, according to him, also needs to be limited so that products imported from abroad are not allowed, which costs below 100 United States (US) dollars.

"As directed by the President, if the products that the Indonesian people can make, we don't have to import anymore. Anything, try anything that is sold from China, starting from the peniti, cellphone cover, all kinds of things," said Teten again.