"There are three messages from President Joko Widodo, those that have to be protected are MSMEs, consumers, and e-commerce," the ministry's deputy for cooperatives and SMEs, Hanung Harimba Rachman, said at the Polemik online discussion on Saturday.
The government is currently revising the Trade Minister's Regulation Number 50 of 2020 to regulate digital commerce.
According to him, the new regulation is in the harmonization process to harmonize various involved aspects.
He noted that apart from revising the regulation, the government is also planning to form a task force to regulate digital commerce.
The revision of the regulation is in response to the shift in consumers' shopping patterns from e-commerce to social commerce, including TikTok, which has affected the sales of MSMEs.
This is because the selling prices offered on such platforms are deemed very cheap, which could potentially lead to predatory pricing.
The revision stipulates that sales of products on e-commerce and digital platforms or social commerce require the same permits and taxes.
Then, foreign digital platforms will not be allowed to sell products from their business affiliates. This is because the algorithm on social media makes it easier to attract consumers to buy products affiliated with businesses.
Third, the new regulation also sets a minimum price limit of US$100 for imported goods. This aims to prevent the entry of products at very cheap prices, which could disrupt the business continuity of domestic MSMEs.
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Translator: Imamatul Silfia, Raka Adji
Editor: Azis Kurmala
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