JAKARTA - President of the Republic of Indonesia Joko Widodo (Jokowi) said that the digital economy has great potential in Indonesia. So it is necessary to accelerate its development, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic crisis.
"One of the momentum that we can take advantage of is the acceleration of the development of the digital economy. The potential for Indonesia's digital market to grow is very promising. The penetration of the internet market has increased significantly every year," said President Jokowi in Google For Indonesia online, Wednesday, November 18.
Furthermore, with the digital infrastructure that has been built to reach all corners of the country, he believes the digital economy will be able to create more new jobs.
In addition, the president said that the MSME sector was still very potential to be developed. He said, of the existing 64 million MSMEs, only 8 million or 13 percent were integrated with digital technology.
"If all of them are integrated with digital technology, the growth will be even greater," said Jokowi.
The President said that support for a conducive business ecosystem can accelerate the development of the digital economy. Through the Omnibus Law or the Job Creation Law, it is hoped that MSMEs will find it easier to open new businesses.
This is driven by the simplification of complex regulations, the licensing process is integrated, made simple and transparent, with the help of technology. In addition, access to finance was simplified.
"The government has made it easier for MSMEs to get business loans with lower interest rates and less burdensome requirements, especially for startups that have just opened a business," said Jokowi.
Digital talent and literacyThe acceleration of the digital economy, according to Jokowi, also requires more digital talent, so that more training is needed to hone HR skills in the IT field, so that they are able to meet the needs of 9 million national digital talents by 2035.
"Efforts to meet the target of 9 million national digital talents cannot only be done by the government. This must be done together, both by the government, universities and the private sector," said Jokowi.
The existence of digital talent needs to be balanced with digital literacy that is evenly distributed to society, especially the younger generation, so that they use the internet properly, safely, responsibly, free from misinformation and disinformation, and fight hoaxes or fake news.
Jokowi added that good digital literacy will encourage the use of digital technology in a positive direction; increase productivity and distance learning, encourage social activities, philanthropy, raise donations for humanity, and increase movements of care, solidarity and mutual cooperation.
"I hope that various initiatives such as Google for Indonesia 2020 will continue to emerge to contribute to the development of Indonesian human resources in the IT field, to help MSMEs develop business and be able to advance in class, and rise and move forward together for advanced Indonesia," he concluded.
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