A couple of days ago it was viral in the X application if the e-commerce application from China, Temu, would enter Indonesia. The Ministry of Communication and Information Technology (Kominfo) finally blocked the TEMU application after it was discovered that its presence had the potential to threaten the sustainability of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs).
Kominfo’s reason for blocking the Chinese e-commerce Temu is that it is considered to endanger MSMEs.
This is because Temu’s business model, which directly connects factories with consumers, could potentially disrupt the local market and undercut the prices of local MSMEs, making it difficult for them to compete.
“They reportedly want to acquire Bukalapak. But Bukalapak has denied it,” said Kominfo Minister Budi Arie Setiadi on Thursday, October 10, 2024, as reported by Katadata.
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Kominfo’s Director General of Public Information and Communication, Prabunindya Revta Revolusi, also made a firm statement about the TEMU application.
According to him, the application does not comply with regulations in Indonesia and has the potential to threaten the sustainability of MSMEs, therefore the government through Kominfo has blocked it.
“For the TEMU application, in terms of its business model, it clearly does not comply with existing regulations in Indonesia, both in terms of trade and the MSME ecosystem that we must protect and maintain,” he said.
Prabu also assessed that the presence of such applications could damage the MSME business ecosystem, especially when foreign product prices are very low and threaten the sustainability of small businesses. Therefore, the government takes firm action to protect domestic MSMEs.
Yes, the Temu application is known to sell goods from China at very cheap prices.
According to Prabu, the blocking step was taken because TEMU did not register itself as a PSE (electronic system organizer) in Indonesia.
The PSE registration process itself is considered easy, but until now, TEMU has not made any gesture or sign to comply.
Temu expands to Vietnam and Brunei
Banned in Indonesia, Temu immediately took steps to expand to two other Southeast Asian countries, namely Vietnam and Brunei.
As reported by the South China Morning Post, Temu’s move into the Vietnamese market is considered too hasty. This is because Temu’s services in Vietnam still use English.
Then, transactions can only be made using credit cards and Google Pay, excluding the popular mobile payment service in Vietnam, Momo. In Brunei, Temu is available in English and Malay.
