VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Foreign Affairs Minister Retno Marsudi drew attention to three focused forms of international cooperation on digital economy during Indonesia’s G20 Presidency.

The first is collaboration to support inclusiveness, Marsudi remarked during “The 2020 G20’s Digital Economy Working Group (DEWG) Kick Off” held virtually here on Tuesday.

“Global digital divide continues to occur due to accessibility and affordability issues,” she noted.

Some 2.9 billion people in the world are still offline and 96 percent of them are from developing countries, while broadband data is still relatively expensive for half of the global population, she explained.

Hence, concrete efforts are required to bridge the gap, not only between developed and developing countries but also between rural and remote areas, she affirmed.

“G20 becomes a driving force of global investment to build qualified, reliable, and affordable digital infrastructures for all, especially for those in developing countries,” she remarked.

The second is digital literacy cooperation that is very important to be continually bolstered, Marsudi stressed.

According to International Financial Cooperation, the digital sector in African Sub-Sahara is projected to create 230 million jobs and generate US$120 billion by 2030.

To meet the target, capacity building is necessitated to be provided for 650 million people, she stated.

“Digital literacy is crucial to help public gain full benefit from digital transformation, including encouraging more local MSMEs to participate in the digital platform,” she remarked.

Not only for MSMEs but capacity building is also aimed for the government sector to build infrastructures and draft conducive regulation for digital economic growth, according to the minister

“To this end, international cooperation is required to facilitate strengthening digital capacity for developing countries, including the financing aspect,” she noted.

The third is international cooperation to build a secured digital ecosystem, she stated.

Concerns over the security aspect of the digital ecosystem are still growing, according to Marsudi.

One in four people do not trust the internet and eight in 10 members of the global community feel anxiety about their online privacy, particularly in developing countries, she noted.

“The concerns are reasonable,” she affirmed.

Potential losses due to global data breaches is forecast to reach US$5 trillion by 2024.

“International collaboration, therefore, is necessitated to improve global trust in the utilization of digital platforms,” she noted.

In terms of the digital economy, Marsudi stated that trust can be built through guaranteed security and data privacy in relation to secured digital payment and clear consumer protection.  (Antaranews)