Observer Reminds The Presence Of Foreign Applications Will Threaten The Presence Of Indonesian MSMEs

Illustration. (Photo: Doc. Antara)

JAKARTA - Executive Director of the Center of Economic and Law Studies (CELIOS), Bhima Yudhistira reminded that the presence of foreign applications such as Temu could threaten the existence of local MSMEs because Indonesia would only become a market for imported goods.

"Indonesia is only used as a market, many business actors will be threatened with going out of business and creating mass layoffs, especially in the manufacturing sector," Bhima said in a statement in Jakarta, quoted from Antara, Saturday, June 15.

The Ministry of Cooperatives and SMEs through staff, especially Fiki Satari, also firmly refused the entry of Temu into Indonesia. According to him, the application must comply with existing regulations.

"It must be rejected. So actually, this regulation is difficult to operate. There is PP number 29/2002 concerning the Prohibition of Merger of KBLI 47, it could also be that we revised Permendag number 31/2023, Supervision of Electronic System Business Actors, there is a direct cross border, so it's not allowed," said Fiki.

Based on data from the Ministry of Cooperatives and SMEs, the value of the MSME digital economy can reach IDR 4,531 trillion by 2030, given the potential for an increase in market access that is wider in the digital ecosystem.

To note, Temu is a global cross-border platform originating from China. The application uses the method of selling Factory to Consumer (sales directly from factories to consumers). This method is considered to have a negative impact on MSMEs and employment opportunities in Indonesia. Currently, Temu has penetrated 58 countries.

Previously, Minister of Cooperatives and SMEs (Menkop UKM) Teten Masduki expressed concern about the entry of a new marketplace application that could connect directly between factories in China directly to Indonesian consumers.

"This is what I'm worried about, there is one more cross-border digital application that I think will enter us, and be more powerful than TikTok, because this connects the factory direct to consumers," said Teten in Jakarta, Monday (10/6).

Teten said the application, named Temu, came from China and had entered 58 countries.

According to him, the application is connected to 80 factories in China and its products can be directly accepted by all consumers in the world.