Jakarta. Indonesia says that its membership in the global body on artificial intelligence (AI) will help drive economic development, as aimed by the UN.

Indonesia and dozens of other nations established the World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization (WAICO) on Thursday in Shanghai. WAICO is an intergovernmental international organization focusing on inclusive cooperation in the civil domain on AI.

According to senior minister Airlangga Hartarto, Jakarta's membership was at President Prabowo Subianto's behest. The Indonesian leader believes that the WAICO can help encourage economic development that accelerates the UN Sustainable Development Agenda and impacts the well-being of people worldwide.

"Today's signing of the WAICO founding agreement is an important milestone for all of us," Airlangga was quoted as saying in a press statement.

"Indonesia is committed to taking an active role in bringing the global AI divide. The presence of representatives from friendly countries confirms our shared vision for managing AI to make it safer, more trustworthy, and more ethical," Airlangga said.

He went on to say that Indonesia intends to make sure that the global AI governance remains human-centric and provides equitable benefits for all countries, particularly the developing economies.

Meetings were also held with Chinese President Xi Jinping and UN Secretary-General António Guterres prior the signing.

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