Minister of Trade Lutfi Called E-Commerce Doesn't Need To Be Regulated Or Even Taxed

Minister of Trade M. Lutfi (Ministry of Trade's Public Relations Bureau, Kemendag.go.id)

JAKARTA - Muhammad Lutfi as Minister of Trade of the Republic of Indonesia said that Indonesia has great potential in the field of e-commerce or digital trade. Lutfi said that this great potential would not be hampered by unnecessary bureaucracy.

Too many regulations will slow down the pace of the digital commerce industry itself. The Minister of Trade also touched on tax issues. According to him, it is possible that this industry will be free from taxes so that it can encourage more startups.

"This is the primadonna that we have to care about, the market must be maintained, the digital must come and this makes our economy more efficient, so I promise, I will take care of it. If it doesn't need to be regulated, it doesn't need to be regulated, let alone taxed,” said Lutfi on Tuesday, January 26.

Lutfi believes that this regulation will advance digital trade. If it is already advanced, he believes that there will be more startups reaching the unicorn level. It is possible that the number will increase by about 2 to 3 times in 4 years.

The Trade Minister gave an example of an Indonesian unicorn startup that is aggressively expanding its company's reach to Southeast Asian countries such as Gojek.

"Because if we become a strong country here, we will dominate the regional market, I guarantee Gojek will become a separate force for developing countries, have arrived in the Philippines, have arrived in Vietnam, will travel in Singapore. Hopefully it will become an embracement,” added Lutfi.

According to Bank Indonesia, digital trade transactions this year will increase and continue to grow, it is predicted to reach 33.2 percent. In 2020 e-commerce transactions have reached IDR 253 trillion, so with this growth number it could reach IDR 337 trillion.