TEMPO.CO, Jakarta – Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi believes it is important to make joint efforts to mitigate online gambling. She saw it as a transnational crime.

The government of Joko Widodo, or Jokowi, is forming an online gambling task force. When asked about her involvement in the task force, Retno only said that her job was indeed to protect Indonesian citizens abroad for years. 

“This is a transnational crime. So if we want to eradicate this crime, we need a joint effort. Cooperation in nature between countries in the region,” Retno said at the State Palace in Jakarta on April 26.

The minister explained the importance of working together to handle online gambling cases as the victims are not only Indonesian citizens but also Southeast Asian countries and other neighboring countries such as China.

The Coordinating Minister for Politics, Law, and Security, Hadi Tjahjanto, held a meeting with several ministry/agency officials at his office in Jakarta on Tuesday, April 23, to finalize the formation of an online gambling task force.

The meeting was attended by Communication Minister Budi Arie Setiadi, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Pahala Mansury, Attorney General ST Burhanuddin, and the head of the Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Center (PPATK) Ivan Yustiavandana. The meeting was a follow-up to the limited meeting held on Thursday last week.

PPATK in 2023 found 3.2 million people involved in online gambling. Eighty percent of them gambled less than Rp100,000.

Online gambling turnover reached Rp327 trillion (in total) in 2023. The government has closed 5,000 bank accounts suspected of being linked to online gambling.

DANIEL A. FAJRI

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