TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - International Monetary Fund or IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde talked about Indonesia’s ride-hailing app GoJek up to the country`s mutual cooperation, or gotong-royong, during her speech in the high-level conference meeting at Fairmont Hotel today, Feb. 27.

Lagarde reasons that the two aforementioned elements are perfect examples to describe the current situation regarding ASEAN’s positive economic partnership. “In my opinion, this is beautifully described in the Indonesian phrase of gotong-royong, working together for a mutual goal,” she said.

She voiced her concern about the global economic change that tends to adopt a protectionist view. But at the same time, ASEAN countries are opening up and strengthening its partnership with other countries.

“ASEAN could be proud of its achievement. One of it is the pledge to eliminate the obstacles facing intra-ASEAN rates,” she continued. According to Lagarde, the gotong-royong concept has also been adopted by IMF by working together with partnering countries to reach a mutual goal.

Lagarde also talked about the advent of digital revolution in the form of digital economy that cannot be avoided. A McKinsey research reported that around 60 percent of workplaces that currently exist will adopt automation technologies, she said.

However, Lagarde sees that Indonesia’s digital ecosystem is already prepared to welcome the change based on the fact that the country houses 1,700 startups, which is considered to be one of the largest clusters in the world.

“Gojek is one of the great examples, how they transformed from just being a transport service app into a payment platform and many other services,” the IMF boss explained.

Meanwhile, Finance Minister Sri Mulyani who also attended the conference said that the growth of startups in Indonesia has not been without any hurdles. She said that it has highlighted the dilemma between technological advancement and consumers protection to maintain a level playing field.

Fajar Pebrianto