Jakarta (25/10) – For the second time, the Jakarta International Competition Forum (JICF) was held by the Commission for the Supervision of Business Competition (KPPU), at Grand Ballroom of Hotel Indonesia Kempinski on October 25, 2017. This bi-annual event was started with an opening by Chairman of KPPU, M. Syarkawi Rauf, and a keynote address by Minister of Communications and Informatics, Rudiantara.

In his opening speech, Syarkawi stressed the need for KPPU to contribute to the development of the digital economy in Indonesia and the world. Digital technology and social networking has now been able to change the way a person determines a value of goods and services. “Digital technology has transformed very quickly, including on existing goods and services, where there is a huge transformation in the market. The world is getting narrow, and the market is getting closer, “said Syarkawi.

This statement is in line with Rudiantara speech that Indonesia is a huge market for digital market activity. In Indonesia, digital marketing is experiencing robust growth throughout a specific platform. “This certainly invites many digital investors to develop their products in Indonesia,” he explained.

With the supervision of fair competition, Rudiantara added, digital investors would be more interested to join developing digital market in Indonesia, “we must make Indonesia as a competitive country, putting forward the values of competition”.

The 2nd Jakata International Competition Forum (2JICF) conference was attended by a number of cross-border business competition experts as panelists, including Ng Ee Kia (Assistance Chief Executive Competition Commission of Singapore), Hassan Qaqaya (Melbourne University), Antonio Gomes (Head of OECD Competition Division), Bruce Cooper (General Manager of Australian Competition and Consumer Commission), Yin Yanling (Director of Anti-Monopoly Bureau of China Ministry of Commerce), Tsai-Lung HONG (Commissioner of Chinese Taipei Trade Fair), Barbara Wise (NSW Transport Commissioner – Sydney), Toshiyuki Nambu (Senior Deputy Secretary of the Japan Fair Trade Commission), M Nawir Messi (Commissioner of KPPU). Our stakeholders and the private sector also attended the 2JICF, including Alex Chandra (Head of Education, Human Resources & Customer Protection Division in Indonesia Ecommerce Association), Nadiem Makarim (CEO and Founder of Go-Jek Indonesia), Hendri Sivilianto (Government of Jakarta), and Toshan Tamhane (Senior Partner of McKinsey Indonesia).

All these panelists carry an important mission at the 2JICF Conference. In the future, the digital market in Indonesia can be a huge market with the inclusion of various digital products, offset by the increasing purchasing power of Indonesian and the increasing need for information technology. They emphasized the importance of maintaining competition and the diversity of digital products in Indonesia, with KPPU as the vanguard that encourages the creation of fair competition.