Jakarta (ANTARA) - Indonesia has been quite successful in expediting digital transformation and ushering digital technology into people's daily lives, including in the finance sector, Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto has said.

The pandemic is the right moment to adopt digital innovations to drive recovery, he opined during the Financial Services Authority (OJK) Innovation Virtual Day 2021, held online on Monday.

"This (pandemic) is the chance to accelerate digital transformation in the finance sector so that it would make a positive contribution to national economic recovery," he said.

Indonesia's success in accelerating digital transformation can be observed in the positive growth of the informatics and communication sector, he said.

According to Hartarto, the positive growth in the informatics and communication sector has been triggered by a shift in behavior, with people showing a higher tendency to utilize technology during the pandemic.

This shift has affected the nation's economy to the extent that growth in the second quarter of 2021 reached 7.07 percent (yoy), he pointed out.

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Moreover, Indonesia has a demographic advantage that supports a sustainable digital economy ecosystem: the prevalence of generation Z and millennials (citizens aged 8 to 39), he added.

This demographic has a high digital adoption rate with many utilizing digital technology such as social media, Hartarto explained.

Moreover, around 37 percent of new digital consumers emerged during the COVID-19 pandemic and 93 percent of them will continue to use digital economy products after the pandemic, he highlighted.

In addition, this acceleration is also shown from the fact that 41.9 percent of ASEAN's digital economy transactions come from Indonesia, he informed adding, digital transactions in Indonesia have now reached Rp44 billion due to the contribution of e-commerce and other sectors.

"This includes ed-tech and health-tech sectors as a result of online health lessons and consultations," he elaborated.

Fintech lending is also experiencing a swift development with outstanding loans increasing to Rp26.09 trillion and new loans reaching Rp101.47 trillion in August 2021, the minister said.

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Translator: Astrid Habibah, Fadhli Ruhman
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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