Fin-tech Entrepreneur Ask the Government to Support Small Startup

Indonesian Fin-tech Association, as known as Aftech, claimed to support the government regulations related to the digital economy. They mainly focus on the terms and regulations which don’t complicate small startups. Niki Luhur, the chairman of Aftech, confirmed about this issue on Monday (23/9).

Niki denied that fin-tech always refused any approval related to the government regulations. He raised questions in the interests of clients while declining any negative effects in the financial sector. However, he understood how fin-tech is defined that way by the public.

“It is an initial view of a startup that we don’t like regulations, and we like to do things in a rush and apologize later. But the fact is we don’t agree with that,” Niki said on Monday during the Indonesian Fin-tech Summit & Expo 2019 held at JCC, Central Jakarta.

“We believe that supporting consumers is the most crucial factor. This way, the industrial growth can be carried out in the long term.” Niki added. Aside from this issue, Niki also discussed data sovereignty. He said that his side is ready to follow the government.

Aftech Will Support Government’s Direction Regarding of Data

Relate to data sovereignty which is going to be ruled by the government, Niki said that they are ready to follow the direction, as long as the implementation is fair. This means there shouldn’t be any tech companies that continue using foreign services if they were banned.

When it comes to small startups, Niki hoped that the government will consistently apply ‘light touch’ regulations. He said that small startups that make mistakes when innovating should be considered a natural thing. Thus, they shouldn’t feel threatened to be punished if there is a failure in innovation.

“Innovation requires an out-of-the-box idea. If everything is penalized every time it fails, there will be no innovation. We need to find the right balance. But, if we have a small startup, don’t disturb it so they can innovate,” Niki explained.

Aftech’s View of Data Protection Bill

Considering the Bill of Data Protection, Niki said that Aftech members are focusing on listening to any aspirations of the people linked to the bill. He could only hope that the government could harmonize the regulations with other related organizations.

In this case, the government should harmonize the regulation with the digital infrastructure under the Ministry of Communication and Information, the financial regulation with Indonesian Bank and Financial Services Authority, as well as with the Ministry of Law and Human Rights.

On the other hand, the Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs, Darmin Nasution, believed that the growth of the digital economy in the form of financial technology (fin-tech) would be the main supporter of the world economy. He said it would improve new job creations in the future.

He said that the digital economy has contributed about 22 percent to the global economy. This is the job of the future. And in the digital age, work will change rapidly. That’s why there should be excellent coordination between the government and fin-tech entrepreneurs.