The Government Firmly Rejects Meetings In Indonesia To Protect Local MSMEs

Minister of Communication and Information Budi Arie Setiadi (photo: Dinda Buana/VOI)

JAKARTA - Minister of Communication and Information Budi Arie Setiadi emphasized that the Indonesian government will not provide an opportunity for e-commerce Temu in Indonesia, which is claimed to damage the local MSME ecosystem.

"No (about Temu who wants to enter Indonesia), Temu can't because it damages the ecosystem, especially Indonesian MSMEs," said Minister of Communication and Information Budi to the media on Tuesday, October 1 at the Kominfo office, Jakarta.

Budi also said that the presence of e-commerce from China would later cause losses not only for business people, especially MSMEs, but also for people in Indonesia.

Thus, with the many considerations of losses that will be present, the Indonesian government firmly rejects the presence of Temu, although Temu is currently reportedly trying to enter Indonesia.

"People lose, we want to become a digital space to make people productive and more profitable if we make people lose for what. We still prohibit it, destroy our MSMEs if allowed," said Budi.

The Ministry of Cooperatives and SMEs (Kemenkop UKM) has also previously warned of Temu's presence in Indonesia. The reason is, Temu can threaten MSMEs because the platform sells products at very low prices, plus discounted subsidies are given.

The platform does not hesitate to provide discounts of up to 90 percent in various countries, most recently in Thailand. In fact, he said, Temu did not hesitate to give a 0 percent price for its products. So, consumers only have to pay the shipping cost.

Not only in Indonesia, but the US government is also still investigating the platform from China, with the same problem that several other countries have complained about.

"We are trying to better understand these companies, particularly their focus on direct delivery to low-value consumers," said CPSC (Consumer Product Safety Commission) Commissioner Peter Feldman and Douglas Dziak.