Digitalization of Village Efforts to Press Imports in E-Commerce

Detiktoday.com – Not only convenience is offered in the middle of the digital era, but very competitive cost efficiencies also greatly affect the e-commerce platform.

Deputy Minister of Villages, Development of Disadvantaged Areas, and Transmigration, Budi Arie Setiadi believes, digitalization of villages carried out optimally can reduce the dependence of Indonesian people on imported products in e-commerce.

“The irony is that most of our e-commerce still trades imported goods. It means that the Indonesian people only become consumers of the advancement of digital technology, “he said when he was a guest speaker at a public lecture at Desa Academy 4.0 in Jakarta, Friday (7/17).

According to him, villages in Indonesia actually have products that are no less attractive and of high quality compared to imported goods. However, most villages are still not maximized in marketing their superior products.

He continued, one way that could be done to market village products to the fullest was by digitizing villages.

“One of the most basic conclusions of the e-commerce ecosystem is a matter of marketing. Many village products are good, but are constrained in marketing issues, “he said.

Budi Arie admitted, one of the obstacles in the realization of village digitalization was that there were still as many as 13,577 villages that did not yet have internet access. He hoped that the development of telecommunications infrastructure in all villages could be realized soon.

“I have coordinated with related parties, so that the construction of telecommunications infrastructure in villages without internet access can be realized immediately,” he said.

Related to this, according to him, the Ministry of Villages, Development of Disadvantaged Regions, and Transmigration is in cooperation with PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia to create several smart village pilot villages.

It is planned that the smart village trial will be conducted in several regions such as Karanganyar Regency, Lumajang Regency, Pangandaran Regency, and Yogyakarta.

“We hope to be able to meet the model later. Hopefully we can launch this mid-August (launch). After that we can replicate it in all villages according to their respective potential, “he said.