Jakarta. Investment Minister Rosan Roeslani recently revealed that Indonesia had taken some strategic steps to attract high-technology investments into the country as a means to drive the national economy.

Rosan announced the goverment's plans at the recent Investor Daily Roundtable forum in Jakarta. The discussion -- facilitated by B-Universe's Executive Chairman Enggartiasto Lukita -- zeroed in on Indonesia's strategies to bring in high-tech investments. 

According to Rosan, Indonesia already has a robust digital ecosystem, be it from an infrastructure or application standpoint, thus enabling the country to be competitive in the region. Indonesia's public cloud computing market is thriving in the Asia-Pacific region, even expected to enjoy a compound annual growth rate of 25 percent between 2018 and 2023.

"The e-Conomy SEA 2024 report shows that investors are optimistic that private funding in Southeast Asia will flow to software and services that are closely related to research and development [R&D]. The government is now focused on developing the infrastructure and application to support the investment trend in that sector," Rosan told the forum.

He also underlined the importance of human capital development through partnership programs with vocational schools and the private sector. As of the first semester of 2024, almost 90 percent of the polytechnics in Indonesia have partnered with 1,655 businesses and industry players to make sure that their graduates meet what the industry needs.

"The government has also opened up opportunities for world-class universities to operate in Indonesia. Three universities from the UK and Australia have opened a branches in Malang, Bandung, and BSD. Their presence is expected to generate a workforce with relevant skills, including cybersecurity, data science, digital economy, cyberlaw, urban design, and sustainability," Rosan said.

Priority Sectors for High-Tech Investment

The government has also set certain sectors as priorities for high-tech investment such as the electric vehicle (EV) ecosystem, including its batteries and components. Other priority sectors include data centers, software and services, renewable energy, solar panels, pharmaceuticals, health, semiconductors, and other electronics.

"We actively engage in discussions with prospective investors to ensure the availability of a workforce with the skills that they need so we would be able to support the operations of the high-tech companies," Rosan said.