Jakarta. Chief Economic Affairs Minister Airlangga Hartarto recently said that the internet economy played a pivotal role in making Indonesia more digitally competitive.

Speaking at Tuesday’s 2023 BNI Investor Daily Summit, Airlangga said that the digital economy was key to spurring Indonesia’s economy. However, Indonesia’s internet economy is still falling behind other countries.

"The digital economy ecosystem becomes pivotal to boost competitiveness. Our digital economy ranks 51st place out of 64 countries. Our rank may have risen by 2 spots, but that is not enough," Airlangga said at the forum that recently took place at Hutan Kota by Plataran in Jakarta.

The ASEAN's Digital Economy Framework Agreement (DEFA) helps lay the groundwork for the digital economy. Having this DEFA framework in place is expected to boost Indonesia's digital economy to $2 trillion by 2030. Indonesia also accounts for 40 percent of ASEAN's digital economy.

According to Airlangga, the digital economy calls for collaboration with the private sector, among others, on improving digital technology accessibility and expanding satellite infrastructures as well as data centers.

"Indonesia needs green energy to supply this digital ecosystem, digital education programs via [the pre-employment card] Kartu Prakerja initiative, vocational education, blockchain knowledge, artificial intelligence [AI] transformation. These are all our education parameters, be it at the elementary, secondary, and university level," Airlangga said.

Indonesia needs to brace for the emergence of AIs. Jakarta also called for the need to train Indonesia's AI engineers.

"AI must not conflict with national and individual interests," Airlangga said.

The government also highlighted the need to spur an entrepreneurial spirit among the Indonesian workforce. This can eventually lead to the establishment of startups that can work together with the government and other stakeholders to fast-track the digital infrastructure.  

"Hopefully, the summit will see us thinking of ways to synergize through a concrete collaboration while also ensuring sustainable economic growth," he said.