Jakarta (ANTARA) - Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs, Airlangga Hartarto, has asked the G20 Digital Economy Working Group (DEWG) to outline deliverables or concrete results.

"I express my full support for the role of DEWG in pushing for inclusive and sustainable deliverables that empower the communities," Hartarto remarked at the 2022 DEWG kick-off on March 15,according to a press release issued here on Wednesday.

He said the real outcomes from DEWG can intensify global collaboration for scripting a resilient economic recovery after the pandemic.

The G20 has considered digitalization as one of the main catalysts for building new foundations of economic growth since 2016, he stated.

According to the minister, discussions on digital technology utilization have continued to be carried out during Indonesia's G20 Presidency, which is focusing on three main agendas—global health architecture, digital-based economic transformation, and energy transition.

The commitment of G20 member countries in discussing the development of digital technology and economy has been realized by upgrading the level of the Digital Economy Task Force to the Digital Economy Working Group (DEWG) during Italy's G20 Presidency in 2021, he explained.

DEWG has been given the authority to put forward an across-sector forum on digital economy topics for realizing an inclusive, empowering, and sustainable digital ecosystem, he added.

Furthermore, he highlighted, during the Indonesian G20 Presidency, the Ministry of Communication and Informatics is playing a key role in streamlining discussions on digital economic transformation in existing working groups and engagement groups.

According to Hartarto, the title improvement from Digital Economy Task Force to DEWG aligns with the growth of Indonesia's digital economy.

"Based on the World Bank report in 2021, Indonesia is in the top five countries with the highest (number of Internet) users, where Indonesians use 80 percent of their time to utilize Internet technology both for communicating, surfing social media, and other activities," he added.

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Translator: Sanya S, Kenzu T
Editor: Suharto
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