Under the name of the Archipelago, we have, now, placed Indonesian products on Amazon. We have also been intensifying the Indonesian-made movement to support the promotion of products of local SMEs on the country's unicornsJakarta (ANTARA) - Trade Minister Agus Suparmanto launched a virtual showcase of Indonesia's products through http://showcase.indonesiastore.sg under its endeavors to reinvigorate its export performance direly impacted by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
"I congratulate the Indonesian Embassy in Singapore on the launch of this virtual showcase. We do support the promotion of our commodities through digital platforms," he noted in a statement that ANTARA received in Jakarta on Thursday.
Suparmanto believes the role of digital platforms in assisting Indonesia's economic recovery has become more significant, adding that they would help facilitate the country's exporters to explore the market in Singapore and globally.
In its place, Singapore's importers would also find it easier to have access to Indonesia's good-quality products and credible business partners, Suparmanto noted.
The Indonesian government has made incessant efforts to boost the country's digitally-based trading activities in the Southeast Asian region, including through its endeavors in partaking in ASEAN's Online Sale Day (AOSD), he stated.
The government has also collaborated with Bukalapak, one of Indonesia's leading unicorns, to promote the products of the country's small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Malaysia, Brunei Darussalam, Singapore, Mainland China's Hong Kong, and Taiwan.
"Under the name of the Archipelago, we have, now, placed Indonesian products on Amazon. We have also been intensifying the Indonesian-made movement to support the promotion of products of local SMEs on the country's unicorns," he remarked.
The digital platforms are expected to further promote Indonesian products, so that ultimately the country's exports could be boosted to support its national development programs, he stated.
The presence of http://showcase.indonesiastore.sg is also expected to strengthen partnership between businesspersons of both Indonesia and Singapore, according to Suparmanto, who also utilized the opportunity for promoting the 35th Trade Expo Indonesia (TEI), scheduled to be held virtually on Nov 10, 2020.
Novel coronavirus infections initially surfaced in the Chinese city of Wuhan at the end of 2019. Since then, COVID-19 has spread to over 215 countries and territories, including 34 provinces of Indonesia, with a massive spurt in death toll.
Several nations, including Indonesia, reeling from the pandemic face public health and economic crises.
Senior economist at the Institute for Development of Economics and Finance (Indef), Iman Sugema, Indonesia's economy could recover at the latest in mid-2021 as a result of the discovery of the COVID-19 vaccine in early next year.
"The economic recovery really relies on how immediate the discovery of the COVID-19 vaccine is. If it can be reached on time, Indonesia's economy will rebound in mid-2021," Sugema emphasized.
Speaking at a discussion organized by Indef in Jakarta on Aug 25, Sugema noted that the discovery of the novel coronavirus vaccine was the key to responding to the wide-ranging impacts of this pandemic.
The availability of the COVID-19 vaccine would provide certainty to businesspersons and the industrial sector to revive their production, as consumer demand also starts growing, he noted.
"If the handling of this COVID-19 pandemic gets protracted, more companies will encounter difficulties, and the economic recovery process will also become more challenging," he noted.
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Translator: Sella PG, Rahmad Nasution
Editor: Fardah Assegaf
Copyright © ANTARA 2020
