DIGIVESTASI - Minister of Trade Zulkifli Hasan emphasized that the Ministry of Trade is committed to protecting domestic economic actors from attacks by foreign goods. Indonesia is not just a market for products from various countries in the world. 

Therefore, the Government ensures that it will continue to support the commercial development of local products and brands, especially in the field of cosmetics and beauty. 

With the promulgation of Ministry of Trade Regulation Number 31 of 2023 concerning Business Licensing, Advertising, Guidance and Supervision of Business Actors Transacting Through Electronic Systems, the Ministry of Trade regulates the eco-business system to provide commercial space for local products to grow faster. 

This was conveyed by Minister of Trade Zulkifli Hasan when opening the Jakarta X Beauty 2023 beauty exhibition on Thursday (December 14, 2023) at the Jakarta Convention Center, Senayan, Jakarta. Accompanying him was Director of the Ministry of Trade's National Export Development Department Didi Sumedi. 

"At the Ministry of Trade, we always support economic endeavors in the beauty sector. In this beauty industry, demand is greater than supply. If we don't protect the domestic industry then we can be invaded and Indonesia will only be a market, especially for countries whose production is superior.

In short, we are organizing ourselves as much as possible so that foreign beauty products do not penetrate our domestic industry, said Minister of Trade Zulkifli Hasan.

The global cosmetic product demand trend from 2018 to 2022 is 5.13%, while the supply trend is only 4.03%. Indonesia ranks 27th as a cosmetics exporter with a market share of 0.49%. Zulkifli Hasan said cosmetics and beauty products originating from abroad must meet a number of requirements to ensure the protection of domestic consumers.

Trade Minister Zulkifli Hasan said: "There must be a distribution license, then there must be a guarantee that if people buy and there is a problem, how can they complain?"

The Trade Minister also said that Indonesian economic actors must keep up with developments by using e-commerce platforms. According to him, electronic platforms need to be tried. For this reason, the Ministry of Trade ensures that the digital trade ecosystem can encourage the development of local industries.  

"Like it or not, economic actors must follow the development of the e-commerce system. The trend is not only offline sales, but also online sales.

We have formed a system ecosystem so that economic players in the cosmetics and beauty sector can dominate the local market and develop export markets abroad," he said. For information, the export value of Indonesian cosmetics in 2022 reached 826.71 million USD with exporting countries still mostly ASEAN countries such as Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Vietnam. Meanwhile, Indonesia's leading cosmetic export products include essential oils, cosmetics, perfumes, and shampoos.