TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Azhar Hasyim, director of E-Business at the Communications and Information Ministry, views that Indonesia has the potential to be the third largest e-commerce market in the world above South Korea.

“The Communications and Information Ministry supports startup companies in Indonesia,” Azhar said during a discussion held in Jakarta today, August 23.

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Azhar revealed that Indonesia currently occupies the fifth largest e-commerce country in Asia after China, Japan, South Korea, and India. With such a large number of consumers, he believes that Indonesia can move its rank above South Korea and India.

Azhar explained that several programs could help the country boosting its e-commerce industry. One of the programs involves providing free domains for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to market their products online.

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He added that SMEs are also allowed to work with foreign investors with a minimum trade value of Rp50 billion. Therefore, Azhar suggested business owners with trade value below the figure to refrain from working with foreign investors.

Even Alex Chandra, head of education, human resources, and customer protection at the Indonesia E-Commerce Association (idEA) said that Indonesia could be a country with a larger e-commerce industry than South Korea.

“Although Indonesia has not used 4G+ technology, the country's e-commerce business is snowballing," he said.

M. JULNIS FIRMANSYAH