Indonesia: Jokowi Touches on Digital Economy During APEC Summit

• Nov 12, 2017

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta – President Joko ‘Jokowi’ Widodo brought up the issue of digital economy in the first session of the 25th APEC Economic Leaders Meeting in Da Nang on Saturday (11/11).

“The governments need to take the right position in facilitating transformation that does not always run smoothly and keep prioritizing inclusive, sustainable development and providing productive employment opportunities,” President said.

Jokowi was the fifth speaker after Vietnam President Tran Dai Quang as a host, the U.S. President Donald Trump, Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, and Canada Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Jokowi explained that Indonesia has the potential to be the biggest digital economy in South East Asia by2020 considering that there are 132.7 million internet users and 92 million gadget users. Such a great potential, Jokowi believed, can bring in new opportunities to people who could not be catered by conventional business, and small and medium enterprises (UKM).

Despite so, he urged country leaders to be vigilant in facing rapid development of digital economy. He said that despite boosting innovation development, it exerts disruptive impact to well-established business.

President Jokowi also mentioned that such a condition requires creative breakthrough from policy makers and Indonesia encourages APEC to ensure that digital economy develops on the right track.

Source: https://en.tempo.co/read/news/2017/11/12/056913156/Jokowi-Touches-on-Digital-Economy-During-APEC-Summit