While commemorating the 22nd anniversary of the Indonesian Infocomm Society (MASTEL), Minister of Communications and Information Technology Rudiantara gave a statement reiterating the potential for ICT to boost the growth of the national economy.
ICT should not be seen as an end product, but an enabler to economic growth… If we enable it for economic growth then this will always create added value of ICT that we manage, Rudiantara stated in Jakarta this past week.
Citizens were commended by the Minister for their responsiveness to ICT adaption across the country.
Rudiantara also noted that MASTEL will be evolving so as to meet the greater ICT policy needs. This is with the hope that Indonesia can help boost the economic capabilities provided to the people, through ICT.
Kristiono, Chairman of MASTEL, expressed gratitude for Minister Rudiantara’s attendance the anniversary celebrations. He took this time to announce the revamp of MASTEL website to fix several issues provide a better outcome for stakeholders.
On this same day, a MoU was established between MASTEL with multiple partners was signed to expose the impact of burdensome Luxury Tax on Smartphones. This MoU came as a result of collaboration between MASTEL with LPEM UI Faculty of Economics and Business.
It was found by Dendi Ramdani- Ph.D. researcher at LPEM- that all cellphone subscribers create added value for the economy, amounting to 5.52% of GDP. Dendi Ramdani determined that, "Smartphones are not a luxury item shown on the estimation that income has no effect on the decision to buy a smartphone and on the subjective assessment of the consumer.”
This research discovery marks a significant milestone of ICT adoption and development in Indonesia. Even Rudiantara noted that these results confirm that the ICT sector contributes significantly to economic growth in some countries, including Indonesia.
As the government reacts to the effect of ICT on the economy, it is hoped that it uses this newfound knowledge to adjust ICT policy and drive further mobile penetration throughout the country.