Indonesia is set to ban imported goods priced below $100 on online marketplaces, an official said. Meanwhile, Internet Exchanges operator DE-CIX has set up a joint venture in Indonesia with a Salim Group subsidiary.
No imported goods below $100 on e-commerce platforms
Indonesia has planned to curb the sales of imported goods on e-commerce platforms as part of efforts to protect micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs), according to a senior official.
The Trade Ministry has completed the revision of regulation number 50/2020 which provides legal guidelines for e-commerce. Under the revised rules, the ministry will ban foreign merchants from selling goods below $100 per unit on e-commerce platforms, said Isy Karim, a senior trade ministry official, as quoted by Katadata on Thursday.
Karim said more terms such as mandatory Indonesian standard certification will be applied to foreign merchants selling goods on local e-commerce platforms.
Public discourse about the Trade Ministry Regulation 50/2020 resurfaced after ministers recently made public comments about ByteDance’s alleged plans to sell and promote its own products on its popular short video app TikTok.
TikTok, however, says it will not open up a cross-border business in the archipelago.
DE-CIX expands to Indonesia
DE-CIX, a global operator of internet exchanges, arrived in Indonesia through a joint venture with conglomerate Salim Group’s subsidiary PT IDMarco Digital Solusi, according to a statement on Thursday.
The joint venture, named PT DE-CIX Indonesia, will establish a distributed internet exchange (IXs) across data centres in Jakarta using DE-CIX Apollon platform.
According to the statement, DE-CIX Jakarta will be connected to the existing DE-CIX ecosystem in Southeast Asia covering markets such as Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Johor Bahru, Brunei, and Manila.
“Indonesia, with the largest population and the fastest-growing economy in Southeast Asia, is the next logical step for DE-CIX in the region,” said Ivanov, DE-CIX CEO, said, noting that Singapore and Hong Kong will remain as mega hubs but the company is keen on seeing growth in markets such as Jakarta.