About a month after the Indonesian Ministry of Commerce announced a ban on online shopping on the social media platform, TikTok has held meetings with several e-commerce firms in Indonesia to debate possible partnerships. Minister of Cooperatives and Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) Teten Masduki revealed that TikTok has reached out to 5 e-commerce firms, including Tokopedia, Bukalapak and Blibli.
In an interview on Monday (13/11), Teten Masduki said that several e-commerce firms in Indonesia are in dialogue with TikTok, citing conversations relayed to him by the businesses’ executives.
The Indonesian Ministry of Commerce’s decision to ban online shopping on TikTok last month was aimed toward protecting small sellers and keeping user data secure. This decision had a major impact on TikTok, which ultimately needed to shut down its e-commerce website TikTok Shop. In fact, TikTok itself is a highly regarded platform in Indonesia, with 125 million users.
However, to date, spokespeople for TikTok Indonesia and Tokopedia have declined to comment on the matter. Bukalapak officials also said their company had no information in regards to the talks, and Blibli didn’t reply to requests for comment.
Meanwhile, TikTok and YouTube are considering joining Meta to use for an e-commerce license in Indonesia. The move follows a ban on online shopping on social media platforms imposed by Southeast Asia’s largest economy. The app, owned by Chinese tech giant Bytedance, is alleged to be in talks with several local e-commerce players.
Teten, who was one in every of the most important critics of TikTok Shop before it was banned, revealed that President Joko Widodo tasked him with developing e-commerce regulations.
Later this month, it plans to satisfy with Tik-Tok CEO Shu Zi-Chu to debate commitments to make sure business sustainability and avoid harm to domestic SME products.
Teten also mentioned that he proposed additional regulations related to the flow of imported goods into the country, although he didn’t provide specific details.
According to multiple sources, TikTok Shop was delivering around 3 million parcels a day in Indonesia before it ceased operations.
Indonesia’s e-commerce market is anticipated to grow to about $160 billion by 2030, in line with a report on online economies in Southeast Asia co-authored by Google, Singapore-based Temasek Holdings and Bain & Company. That’s up from $62 billion this 12 months.
Source: Reuters
