REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, NUSA DUA -- Indonesia and Singapore discussed on Thursday, the possibility of cooperation, for helping turn Indonesia into the biggest digital economic country in Southeast Asia by 2020.
"The digital economic field is open for Indonesia and Singapore to cooperate," Indonesian Foreign Minister, Retno L.P. Marsudi said after holding a bilateral meeting with Singaporean Minister of Information, Communication and Health, Chee Hong Tat on the sidelines of the 8th Bali Democracy Forum (BDF) at Nusa Dua, Bali, on Thursday.
According to the official website of the Indonesian Ministry of Information and Informatics, Indonesia's e-commerce industry in 2014 grew to US$12 billion.
The Indonesian government has set itself the target of creating 1,000 new 'technopreneurs' by 2020, who are expected to contribute US$10 billion to the country's revenues.
The revolution in Indonesia's online business is expected to push the national gross domestic product (GDP) by 22 percent in 2020.
Based on analytical data by Ernst & Young, online sales in the country have jumped by an average of 40 percent.
At the closed-door meeting, the two ministers also discussed the need for the two countries to follow up on the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on e-governance cooperation signed in July this year.
In addition, Minister Retno also inquired about Singapore's response to the offer to cooperate with Indonesia in the healthcare field. The initial draft of the MoU was conveyed in April this year.