Jakarta. Indonesia is taking note of China’s strategy of ramping up its human capital and research development for greater economic growth.

Speaking in front of rectors on Monday, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo looked back on his recent trip to top American universities, Georgetown and Stanford. Jokowi admitted that he was surprised by the huge number of Chinese students pursuing their studies there. 

 “Over 50 percent of the students are Chinese. I believe this is what caused China’s economy to skyrocket over the past two decades and even surpass countries that are already advanced economies. … We only have 5 Indonesian students there,” Jokowi told the forum in Surabaya.

Jokowi claimed that almost half of the people studying robotics and artificial intelligence (AI) that he had met during the US trip also came from China.

“They [the Chinese students] are studying AI and robotics for agricultural, medical, and manufacturing purposes. They are learning them all,” Jokowi said.

“This is what we need to prepare because we will witness a demographic dividend in 5-10 years,” Jokowi said, referring to the period when Indonesia’s working-age population surpasses that of the non-productive age.

Companies in China are stepping up their research and development, according to Jokowi. As a case in point, a Chinese company can have 24,000 researchers, although Jokowi did not reveal the name of the firm.

Indonesia is home to abundant natural resources, ranging from minerals to forestry commodities. However, natural resource abundance is not enough for Indonesia to join the band of advanced economies. Human capital, technologies, and innovations are key to helping Indonesia produce more sophisticated goods for greater growth.

"Universities are playing a major role here," Jokowi told the forum.

“We need technologies such as smart farming, smart fisheries, fast computing, among others. … We need to prepare for all this. A country only has one chance to become an advanced economy. That [chance] is when we have a demographic dividend,” Jokowi said.

Indonesia has set a goal to become among the world’s top 4 economies by its centennial in 2045 -- a goal that the country often calls “the 2045 Golden Indonesia” era. The World Bank reported that Indonesia’s gross domestic product (GDP) was forecast to ease slightly to 4.9 percent on average over 2024-2026 from 5 percent the previous year. Expert Bhima Yudhistira told reporters in July 2023 that Indonesia could only achieve a “golden era” by 2070 with a 5 percent average post-pandemic growth.