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Implementation will begin in late January, with the roadmap set to become a national agenda

After months of waiting, the Indonesian government, through the Coordinating Ministry on Economy, announced on Saturday that it has finally drawn up the national e-commerce roadmap. It will also be implemented starting in late January.

According to Ismail Cawidu, Head of PR and Information at the Ministry of Communications and Informatics, there are three points that have been settled:

• The formalisation of the roadmap
• The appointment of a Programme Management Unit to coordinate between ministries and institutions for the roadmap’s implementation
• And plan to formally launch the roadmap by late January

Coordinating Minister of the Economy Darmin Nasution, Minister of Communications and Informatics Rudiantara, Minister of National Development Plan Sofyan Djalil, Minister of Trade Thomas Lembong, Head of Creative Economy Council Triawan Munaf and Deputy Governor of Bank Indonesia Ronald Waas met to finalise the roadmap last Thursday.

Also present during the meeting were representatives from the Indonesia E-commerce Association (IdEA), Pos Indonesia and the Indonesian Association of Shipment Service (Asperindo).

“The formalisation is the end of a long process that [was] initiated in December 2014. The e-commerce roadmap is a follow-up on the President’s instruction to ensure that Indonesia’s e-commerce sector can grow sustainable value,” said Cawidu.

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One of the highlights of the roadmap is Minister Rudiantara’s announcement that the government will finally allow 100 per cent of foreign ownership in local e-commerce business.

“We have 31 initiative proposals for e-commerce products. On the investment side, we’ll be opening investment for foreigners … previously forbidden under the investment negative list,” said the Minister as quoted by Metrotvnews.com.

He further explained that the foreign investment will be limited to ‘large’ online marketplaces, as small and medium businesses still need protection.

The meeting had also decided a one per cent income tax for small and medium businesses, with the final amount for larger business yet to be decided.

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Image Credit: Olu Eletu on Unsplash.com

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