Jakarta (ANTARA) - President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) and Vice President Ma'ruf Amin launched the 2020 Annual Report marking their administration’s first anniversary that highlighted, among others, that the COVID-19 pandemic had expedited digital transformation in the business sector.

The public has created online-based innovations, especially pertaining to online marketing, to promote their products in the wake of the pandemic that has mandated people to maintain physical distancing, according to the book.

Traders in Yogyakarta, Jakarta, and other cities sell their products online, as people face restrictions in conducting their activities or interacting with others owing to the pandemic.

Taxis, both cars and motorcycles, also offer their services online through the development of certain applications.

Marketplace actors, whose core business is online buying and selling, admit to a rising trend in online transactions.

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Shopee Indonesia Director Handhika Jahja stated that the pandemic had brought about a change in the behavior of people, who then began conducting online transactions for purchasing staple goods, foods, basic food items, beverages, and items that can be cooked at home.

Furthermore, Jahja noted that several people shopped to fulfill their hobbies, which were earlier done outdoors but currently being conducted indoors. Citing an example, he said people purchased sports equipment, plants, and home decorations for indoors.

During the second quarter of 2020, Shopee recorded some 260 million transactions, with an average of over 2.8 million transactions daily, constituting a 130-percent rise over last year, and this is a positive indicator for the industry, he explained.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Industry is partnering with the Tokopedia marketplace, as an online shopping medium for automotive products. Hence, transactions of automotive products can be spurred despite ambiguity over when the pandemic will end.

Minister of Industry Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita stated that the #GerakanOtomotifNasional campaign aims to invite the public to support local small- and medium-scale industries (IKM) in the automotive sector, so they can continue to develop their businesses by using online platforms amid the pandemic.

Jokowi and Amin were inaugurated as the Indonesian president and vice president respectively on October 20, 2019, after winning the presidential election in April 2019.

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Translator: Anom P, Fardah
Editor: Yuni Arisandy Sinaga
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