Resilience in the digital economy is reflected in the increased funding of a number of startups in Indonesia, where until now Indonesia has just one decacorn, namely Gojek. And hopefully, will have another one soonJakarta (ANTARA) - Minister of Communications and Informatics, Johnny G. Plate, has expressed the hope that Indonesia will soon have another decacorn, a start-up with a valuation of more than US$10 billion.
"Resilience in the digital economy is reflected in the increased funding of a number of startups in Indonesia, where until now Indonesia has just one decacorn, namely Gojek. And hopefully, will have another one soon," Plate remarked in a press statement released on Wednesday.
Indonesia currently has seven unicorns—Tokopedia, Traveloka, OVO, Bukalapak, J&T Express, OnlinePajak, Xendit, and Ajaib.
According to data collected by Google, Temasek, and Bain in 2020, digital startups got a boost during the pandemic due to an increase in the number of people using digital services.
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"The number of internet users reached 202.6 million people as of January 2021. In addition, digital service users in Indonesia also experienced a 37-percent growth during the COVID-19 pandemic," Plate noted.
On a global and national scale, innovation and utilization of digital technology have been accelerated due to the pandemic, the minister said.
Based on data from the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development in 2021, global internet bandwidth grew 35 percent in 2020, becoming the largest increase in internet usage since 2013, he added.
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"With monthly data traffic globally, it is predicted to continue to increase to 780 exabytes (EB) by 2026. Thus, the adoption of digital technology has become a part of progress in people's lives and activities, including the development of the digital economy in Indonesia," he remarked.
According to Plate, collaboration between Indonesian startups such as Gojek and Tokopedia has been encouraged for the consolidation of e-commerce platforms. Such collaborative efforts are expected to strengthen the national digital economy ecosystem, he said.
"With the awakening potential and resilience, it is estimated that the valuation of Indonesia's digital economy in the future will continue to increase, reaching US$124 billion by 2025 and US$315.5 billion by 2030," he informed.
The digital financial services sector (fintech) also has an important role in the community, he said.
To support the growth of the digital financial sector, the Ministry of Communication and Informatics has implemented three policies: equitable distribution of digital infrastructure development, digital ecosystem governance, and digital talents, he added.
"The digital ecosystem policy from upstream to downstream is implemented so that the Indonesian people can jointly develop a digital ecosystem that is inclusive, useful, safe, equitable, and leave no one behind," Plate said.
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Translator: Arnidhya N Z, Resinta S
Editor: Fardah Assegaf
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