Ministry of Trade Gets Blibli and Ralali to Encourage Non-Oil and Gas Exports

The Ministry of Trade hooked up two e-commerce players, Blibli and Rally, as an effort to increase non-oil and gas exports through e-commerce services. The government views the e-commerce platform as being faster, easier and more efficient for export activities.

"In addition, the use of e-commerce also has a positive impact on various lines related to logistics, financing and communication services; minimizing costs; and expanding marketing areas," said Director of Export Development Cooperation at the Ministry of Trade Marolop Nainggolan in an official statement.

The partnership was marked through a seminar with the theme "Utilizing E-Commerce in Increasing National Exports" on September 5, 2018 in Bandung which was also attended by 50 Indonesian export business players.

During the seminar, Blibli conveyed the various conveniences and advantages of transacting using the marketing page. Meanwhile, Ralali gave an explanation on how to sell through e-commerce and short photo-taking training. The quality of product photos is very important to attract buyers when shopping online.

Along with the increasing number of internet users in Indonesia, the value of transactions through the use of digital marketing has also increased. According to the APJII survey, internet users in Indonesia last year reached 143,26 million, an increase of 7,95% from the previous year.

Meanwhile, e-commerce transactions in 2014 reached Rp. 34 trillion, and it is predicted that in 2016 it will be Rp. 260 trillion. In 2020, e-commerce transactions are predicted to reach Rp1.690 trillion.

At the same time, the Ministry of Trade also invited the Indonesian Export Financing Agency (LPEI) to provide an explanation regarding the Digital Handholding Program (DHP). DHP is one of LPEI-Indonesia Eximbank's consulting services program in the IT sector to facilitate export-oriented small and medium enterprises (SMEs) exporters.

The purpose of the program is that SMEs can market, expand market access, promote, and increase the competitiveness of superior products on global marketing pages.

The Ministry of Trade also invited the Indonesia-Iran Business Council as resource persons. Marolop explained that since the implementation of economic sanctions against Iran, the value of Indonesia's exports to Iran has continued to decline.

"E-commerce (e-commerce) mechanisms, such as the use of Paypal as an international payment system, are believed to be able to boost Indonesia's exports to Iran," he concluded.