The power of e-commerce has been proven to be a valuable means of recovery after the COVID-19 pandemic.
Semarang, C Java (ANTARA) - Trade Minister Zulkifli Hasan on Saturday said that the ASEAN Online Sale Day could help build the interest of consumers from ASEAN countries in Indonesian products.

"This is a challenge, but since the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), the trade agreement between ASEAN has been ratified (to be) free, our (trade) with Malaysia has increased, (and trade with) the Philippines has also increased," he noted.

Hasan made the statement at the offline launch of ASEAN Online Sale Day 2023 on the sidelines of the 55th ASEAN Economic Ministers Meeting in Semarang, Central Java.

He said the implementation of the ASEAN Online Sale Day several years ago during the COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated the effectiveness of e-commerce in revitalizing the economy.

"The power of e-commerce has been proven to be a valuable means of recovery after the COVID-19 pandemic," he observed.

He said he hoped that the offline launch of ASEAN Online Sale Day would help to significantly promote and showcase the best products from ASEAN.

The minister also urged Indonesian micro, small, and medium enterprise (MSME) players to improve the quality of their products to win the competition from other ASEAN countries.

"Digital economy, as one of the important priorities presented, is an important component of ASEAN in sustainable economic development and is expected to be the main driver of the economy," the minister said.

The launch event on Saturday was joined by one e-commerce company, one medium consumer sector company, and eleven MSMEs, some of which came from the Philippines.

The ASEAN Online Sale Day can be accessed online through the website www.aseanonline.com.

According to its website, ASEAN Online Sale Day is an online shopping event that has been held annually since 2020.

The program helps ASEAN countries to promote cross-border trade through e-commerce and gives opportunities to enterprises to promote their products to customers from different countries within ASEAN.

This year, the sale is being carried out from August 8 to August 22.

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Translator: Indra Arief, Raka Adji
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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