This Chinese application has become a phenomenon in the world of e-commerce.
Mr. Budi Arie Setiadi, Minister of Information and Communications of Indonesia, said that this move is to protect domestic small and medium enterprises, against the wave of super cheap products of Temu.
However, up to now, Indonesia has not recorded any transactions of its people on the Temu platform.
Regarding Temu’s business model, Minister Budi Arie Setiadi commented that the fact that this platform allows users to connect directly with factories in China to reduce prices is a form of unfair competition.
“We are not protecting the e-commerce industry, but protecting small and medium enterprises. There are millions of businesses in Indonesia that need to be protected right now,” Mr. Budi Arie Setiadi shared.
Temu currently operates in many countries and territories around the world. Photo: Reuters
Minister Budi Arie Setiadi also confirmed that the Indonesian government will block any investment from Temu in domestic e-commerce, if that happens. Previously, on October 8, Bukalapak.com, a domestic e-commerce platform in Indonesia, denied rumors of a planned takeover by Temu.
In addition, the Indonesian government is planning to request a similar ban on Chinese shopping service Shein.
Currently, Temu, Shein, Apple and Google have not responded to requests for comment from Reuters. Notably, the Temu app is still available for download from app stores in Indonesia.
This is not the first time Indonesia has imposed regulations on platforms from China. Earlier, in 2023, the country forced social media platform TikTok (owned by ByteDance) to stop its e-commerce service to protect merchants and user data.
A few months later, TikTok bought a majority stake in the e-commerce unit of GoTo, an Indonesian technology group, to maintain operations in Southeast Asia’s largest e-commerce market.
According to reports by Google, Temasek Holdings and Bain & Co, Indonesia’s e-commerce industry is expected to expand to about $160 billion by 2030, from $62 billion in 2023.
Temu – the e-commerce platform that is “stirring up” the world
E-commerce app Temu is currently operating in five Southeast Asian countries. Photo: Reuters
Temu is a cross-border online retail platform, similar to Shein, Wish and AliExpress. Temu first launched in the US in September 2022 and then quickly expanded to Canada, Australia, New Zealand and many countries in Europe and Southeast Asia.
Although it has only been operating for 2 years, China’s e-commerce platform Temu has quickly operated in 82 countries and territories (as of October 7). Temu’s transaction value this year has reached nearly 30 billion USD.
Recently, according to research firm Momentum Works, the e-commerce application Temu has quietly launched in the Vietnamese and Brunei markets. Thus, Temu has expanded its coverage to 5 Southeast Asian countries, including the Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand (last July), Vietnam and Brunei.
In Vietnam, Temu’s website version is still quite rudimentary, not providing Vietnamese options, only accepting credit card payments (no local e-wallets), and only two logistics units, Ninja Van and Best Express, participating in transportation. According to Momentum Works experts’ forecast, Temu will add more language, payment, and logistics options if the application invests more in Vietnam.
