Meeting With Youtube CEO, Trade Minister Discusses Indonesia's Digital Trade Development

JAKARTA - Minister of Trade (Mendag) Zulkifli Hasan met with Youtube CEO Neal Mohan on the sidelines of a series of Meetings of Ministers of Economic Cooperation Asia Pacific (Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Ministerial Meeting/APEC AMM) 2023.

He discussed the development of Indonesia's digital economy and trade with YouTube CEO Neal Mohan.

Zulkifli conveyed that the Ministry of Trade (Kemendag) encourages the development of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) through the acceleration of digital transformation inclusive and sustainable.

"Through synergy with the government, YouTube can encourage MSME innovation through capacity development programs such as training," Zulkifli quoted Antara as saying.

According to the Minister of Trade, many MSME actors were helped by video content for branding, packaging, and marketing products in the marketplace.

YouTube Indonesia has carried out several collaborations with the Indonesian government, such as the #NgeShortsBareng program for Indonesian content creators with the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy.

At the meeting, the Minister of Trade also expressed his appreciation for the grant program from YouTube Indonesia and Google worth more than Rp. 2 billion to encourage the acceleration of the digitization of MSMEs in collaboration with SMESCO.

"We see opportunities for cooperation with broader YouTube such as digital marketing training programs for MSMEs in using YouTube features, such as YouTube shorts or short videos or long videos," he said.

According to the Trade Minister, this collaboration will help MSMEs to reach a wider audience and produce more interesting content given the increasing trend of information search through YouTube. In addition, this platform can also encourage content creators to review local MSME products.