REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- People in rural areas can team up with different parties and put some money together to build such digital technology infrastructure as a 3G tower and use it to develop micro, small and medium enterprises.

Eddy Lee, the founder of Coffee Ventures, a company that enters partnerships with startups said here on Thursday.

"These funds could be collected from multiple villages. Further, if the internet connection in rural areas is insufficient, then people can use such devices as smartphones or tablets and download open source applications to connect with people worldwide," Eddy stated.

According to him, by utilizing digital technology, the micro, small and medium-scales businesses could market and sell their products all over the world.

Moreover, he noted, Indonesia has a huge population of young people under the age band of 23-30 years. This is the demographic strata increasingly accustomed to using devices to communicate, benefitting from various chatting applications.

He appreciated the Indonesian government's policy to make the economy open to foreign investment, which, according to Eddy, is not only about money, but also to grow e-commerce in the country.

The Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs and the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology are implementing "1000 digital startups" program in order to accelerate the development of digital business in Indonesia.

The program is expected to generate one thousand startups with an investment of US$10 billion by 2020.

Ikuti Whatsapp Channel Republika