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The steering committee is a follow-up on the recently finalised e-commerce roadmap

Indonesia Minister of Communications and Informatics Rudiantara announced that the government has proposed Alibaba founder and executive chairman Jack Ma as an advisor to the forthcoming steering committee for e-commerce development, according to a report by The Jakarta Post.

In a video released by State Secretariat on Friday, Rudiantara explained that he proposed Ma as an advisor, “So that Indonesia may grab greater attention from the international market when they see that even Jack Ma is willing to advise us.”

He also stated that the recent finalisation of Indonesia’s e-commerce roadmap would be followed up by the formation of a special task force with a steering committee consisting of 10 ministers led by Coordinating Economic Minister Darmin Nasution.

Also Read: Indonesia should aspire to be like China, not India: Donald Wihardja

Previously, Rudiantara had explained to the media at many local events that Indonesia will follow the model set up by China in developing its digital industry.

Alibaba itself had entered the Indonesia market with, among the few, the recent acquisition of e-commerce platform Lazada.

The Indonesian government itself has fostered a partnership with the Chinese e-commerce giant through the set up of Inamall, a channel for Indonesian SMEs to market their products in China.

“We also talked about another potential partnership, as Alibaba has a big online booking platform for travel businesses, so we discussed potential cooperation in tourism, as well as support for small and medium enterprises,” said Thomas Lembong, Chairman of Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM).

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