Jakarta, (ANTARA News) - Trade Minister Enggartiasto Lukita said the export of consumer goods through e-commerce is still relatively low.

Addressing the closing of the International Conference and Call for Paper (ICCAP 2018) in Jakarta on Thursday, Minister Lukita said the size of imported goods compared to exported ones through e-commerce transactions is a challenge for the growth of Indonesia`s digital economy.

If we look at the sales side, the import of foreign goods entering is greater than our exports through e-commerce. That is the problem and the challenge for us," said Lukita.

According to Lukita, the trend of trade can still be improved, especially exports of consumer goods from Indonesia, such as automotive, fashion, hobbies, and health and beauty products, which have increased significantly.

In addition to the imbalance between imported and exported goods in the e-commerce market, Lukita also considered that entrepreneurs, who still carry out conventional transactions or have not been touched by digitalization, have also become challenges.

In fact, said the minister, transactions in the world`s e-commerce market in 2020 reached 2.6 trillion dollars, while Indonesia was predicted to reach 55 billion US dollars.

the value of Indonesian e-commerce transactions will also continue to increase along with the growth of the two large platforms. Formal e-commerce is estimated to reach 40 billion US dollars and socio commerce is 15 billion US dollars by 2020.

As the largest e-commerce market in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Indonesia is increasingly opening up opportunities in the digital economy era.

This is because the e-commerce market not only provides financial benefits, but also increases job creation by 26 million jobs supported mainly by small-and medium scale enterprises.

Therefore, increasing the competitiveness of local products is also one of the government`s focuses to increase e-commerce penetration in Indonesia.??

Reporting by Mentari Dwi Gayati
Editing by Andi Abdussalam, Rahmat Nasution

Reporter: Andi Abdussalam
Editor: Suharto
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