Rudiantara, Communications and Information Minister:
The rules of the game need to be established

The positive trend on digital economics has caught the attention of President Joko Widodo. This lucrative business has been expanding in the past few years and is expected to continue growing in line with the increasing numbers of Internet users with their smart-phones. The Indonesian E-Commerce Association (idEA) recorded at least US$12 billion worth of online commerce in 2014. This has led the President to urge Communications and Information Minister Rudiantara to prepare the necessary steps to ensure Indonesia can benefit from the rapid growth of online businesses.

Rudiantara himself is optimistic that digital transcations in Indonesia can reach US$137 billion or eight to nine percent of national gross domestic product (GDP) by 2020. "We must establish the rules of the game so Indonesia can benefit from it," he said. Rudiantara shared his views on this new economic phenomenon with Tempo reporters Akbar Tri Kurniawan and Ursula Florence at his residence in Jakarta last week. Excerpts:

September 29, 2015