"If we observe the data related to MSMEs go online, it is a concrete evidence that digital transformation can bring resilience and provide opportunities when there is an economic contraction with social restrictions. Digital transformation is a solution to survive," said Digital Economy Working Group (DEWG) Alternate Chair Dedy Permadi in #G20Updates, Thursday, Nov. 10.

DEWG is a digital economy working group specifically addressing the digital economy and digital transformation among the G20 countries. Digital transformation is one of the three main issues raised by Indonesia at the G20 Summit, in addition to the issues of renewable energy transition and global health architecture.

According to Dedy, there are approximately 64 million MSMEs in Indonesia, contributing around 60% of Indonesia's GDP. Despite the adversity of the Covid-19 pandemic, many MSMEs quickly switched and adapted to the digital world.

Before the Covid-19 pandemic, there were nine million MSMEs digitally onboard. This number increased after the pandemic to nineteen million MSMEs.

“The growth rate is considerably high. It shows that some of our MSMEs have been able to take advantage of digital transformation potentials to survive amid a pandemic," he added.

However, said Dedy, Indonesia still needs to continue to struggle because, aside from the nineteen million, many MSMEs have not been digitally onboard. It means out of 64 million MSMEs, only 29 percent of MSMEs are digitally onboard.

Concretely, Indonesia needs to work on around the remaining 71 percent to be able to take advantage of opportunities in the digital space. For this reason, Indonesia needs to discuss and find solutions at the G20 forum to increase the digitization rate in the MSME world.

"Our task is to encourage MSMEs to survive and even scale up, and to expand their business in terms of quality and quantity. After scaling up, they can take action to go international. Our goal is

for MSMEs to be competitive at the global level," he said.

Dedy continued that at the G20 forum, three issues related to the transformation of the digital world were discussed, including connectivity and post-pandemic recovery; digital skills and digital literacy; cross-border data flow and data free flow with trust.

Dedy explained that one of the highlights of the discussion of the digital transformation issue was the business sector. Indonesia will facilitate industries to meet and make concrete investment commitments in the business sector of the digital world.

In the field of digital startups, one of the concrete results is organizing a side event called the Digital Innovation Network. The event is a meeting place for startups in G20 countries with potential investors.

“The potential for digital startups in Indonesia is huge. It is because Indonesia has a digital economic valuation of forty percent of the total digital economy valuation in Southeast Asia," he concluded.

About #G20Updates:

G20 Updates consists of routine press conferences, press releases, infographics and videos produced by G20 Communications and Media Team. It is aimed to provide comprehensive information regarding preparations and issues related to G20 Summit held in Bali, Indonesia on November 15-16, 2022.

Contact person:

Director General of Public Information and Communications of the Ministry of Communications and Informatics – Usman Kansong (0816785320).

Find more information at https://infopublik.id/categories/g20