Government Collaboration Needed to Support Tech Access to Indonesian Market
WASHINGTON – Today, global tech trade association ITI urged the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) and Indonesian officials to work together to address key market access barriers faced by U.S. technology companies in the Indonesian market.
In comments submitted earlier this month and in testimony given today as part of a USTR public hearing on its Country Practice Review on Indonesia’s Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) eligibility, ITI’s Senior Director of Policy Sam Rizzo called attention to existing and emerging barriers that constrain the U.S. ICT sector’s work in Indonesia’s market. These issues have taken the form of digital barriers, opaque local content requirements, country-unique and localized testing requirements, and impediments to investment.
“Indonesia is a fast-developing market for the global tech sector, with many opportunities for U.S. ICT and tech-enabled firms,” ITI wrote. “In recent years, a combination of foreign investment, a nascent startup culture, and widespread mobile and digital connectivity have created a wealth of potential for Indonesia’s continued development. [. . .] However, since USTR’s 2018 review of Indonesia’s GSP eligibility, the ICT sector has faced continued and emerging market access barriers that limit both the entrance and operation of U.S. companies into the Indonesian market.”
ITI also reiterated its hope for a prompt conclusion of the GSP review that will achieve meaningful results, reducing trade barriers in Indonesia and allowing for continued collaboration and engagement between the two governments.
USTR is currently in the process of conducting Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) Country Practice Reviews for eight countries. One country review focuses in particular on whether Indonesia is meeting the GSP eligibility criterion requiring a GSP beneficiary country to provide equitable and reasonable access to its market.