BI: Foreign Online Game May Beset Balance of Payment
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28 March 2019 07:37 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Bank Indonesia (BI) senior deputy governor, Mirza Adityaswara, said online games developed by foreign countries potentially hinder Indonesia’s balance of payment (BoP) should it listed in the BoP calculation.
Mirza assessed there are many millennials playing video games through the internet. In China alone, the number of online game users reaches 700 million people.
“Does online game noted in the country’s BoP? Hopefully so. But it has yet been known, the sure thing is, Indonesia’s money flows abroad,” said Mirza in the BI building, in Jakarta, on Thursday, March 27.
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According to him, if downloading one online game requires half US dollar or Rp7,000, the number will be great when the cost is multiplied with just 2 million users.
Therefore, Mirza hoped students or engineers in Indonesia’s renowned colleges, such as Bandung Institute of Technology, Surabaya Institute of Technology, Gadjah Mada University, could develop attractive games.
The industry in Indonesia, he added, must be converted to sectors of manufacture, tourism, and digital realm. “So we currently need to strengthening soft skills,” Mirza concluded.
MUHAMMAD HENDARTYO
