Image from Jakarta Post/ANN
JAKARTA (Bernama-Antara): Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs, Airlangga Hartarto, affirmed that Indonesia has the largest number of unicorn and decacorn companies of all countries, reported Indonesian News Agency (Antara) on Saturday.
"Indonesia has become the country with the largest number of unicorns and decacorns among other countries. This is also driven by the government's efforts to integrate with Asean countries to accommodate companies' development and expand market research," Hartarto noted in a statement from his office on Friday (July 5).
The minister made the remarks while attending an event titled "The Big Idea Forum CNN with Desi Anwar" on Friday.
Hartarto then highlighted that Indonesia's success as the 2023 Asean Chair had led to the launch of the Asean Digital Economy Framework Agreement (DEFA).
"The DEFA brought a new chapter in regional digital economic integration," he said.
The minister noted that DEFA was expected to increase the MSME sector's investment, innovation, productivity, job creation, and empowerment.
Projections show that Asean's digital economy, worth US$1 trillion in 2030, could increase to US$2 trillion due to DEFA, Hartarto said.
Moreover, Indonesia and other Asean countries have integrated payments with Local Currency Settlement (LCS) policies through the use of QRIS.
The minister then drew attention to the importance of data security amid various digitalisation efforts.
The minister echoed optimism in pushing the pace of economic transformation towards becoming a developed country by 2045, supported by the increase in the national economy at around five per cent and the ability to maintain the inflation rate within the target range.
Indonesia is estimated to have around 320 million people with a per capita income of around US$26,000. Thus, the Indonesian economy is estimated to reach around US$9 trillion, Hartarto remarked.
Hence, the government continues to encourage improvements in the performance of various engines of economic growth, especially in the era of digitalisation.
The digitalisation of various industries will be accelerated to attract investment into the country.
Furthermore, Hartarto said the government was also pursuing various efforts to prepare competitive human resources, including through the Pre-Employment Programme, or a provision of training to meet labour market needs that had reached 18 million beneficiaries.
However, Indonesia is still facing challenges in encouraging equal connectivity and accelerating digital infrastructure development.
"We have made several efforts, such as the construction of the Palapa Ring fibre optic network, the utilisation of the Satria Multifunction Satellite for underdeveloped, frontier and outermost areas, and most recently, adopting the Low Earth Orbit satellite technology." - Bernama-Antara
