Airlanga: Half of Indonesian citizens’ overseas purchases can contribute to the national economy

Jakarta, VIVA – Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlanga Hartarto stressed that the government strongly supports the “Only in Indonesia” programme launched by the Indonesian Shopping Mall Tenants and Retailers Association (Hippindo).

According to him, if the Indonesian people really implement this program, it will automatically increase domestic consumption, which will have a positive impact on the national economy.

“The government supports the Hippindo program, which means ‘Buy Indonesia’, so that it can stimulate domestic consumption,” Airlanga said at the “Indonesia Retail Summit 2024” in the Pantai Indah Kapuk (PIK) area in North Jakarta, Wednesday, August 28, 2024.

He admitted that the cost of Indonesians spending abroad is currently very high. “Therefore, if we can get half of Indonesians’ spending to go abroad, then we will boost domestic purchases as well as our economy,” he said.

In addition, Airlangga believes that there is currently no product sold abroad that is not available in Indonesia. “There is no product sold abroad that is not available in Indonesia. I can say that there is not. All products sold abroad should also be available in Indonesia,” Airlangga said.

With the “Buy Only Indonesia” program promoted by Hippindo, he said this will help government programs that also try to stimulate the growth of domestic consumption.

In addition, Airlangga continued, in the future the government will also encourage the use of technology on the payment side to facilitate transactions for people to purchase and consume goods in Indonesia.

This was done by the government, among other things, to control the fiscal aspects of government revenues from the “Only in Indonesia” program.

“In the future, we will also encourage the use of technology in relation to payments to increase financial inclusion. If everyone uses QRIS, use it. electronic moneyOf course, it makes it easier, and the government can do it too. taxpayer accounting us, this is also important. Since the number of our contributors is still relatively small, where do we have taxpayer “That’s only about 31 million (taxpayers),” he said.