Tech, economy to lead Indonesia-China toward century of friendship
The bilateral relationship between Indonesia and China, on this 70 years of friendship should mark a decisive point for a new trajectory path for the cooperation of the two nations. It is well beyond the 50th anniversary and has yet come to a century celebration, and therefore, is a good year to reflect and set new objectives for the years to come. Certainly, to vision how the two countries would be in its 100th years anniversary is an ideal target to aim for.
In the past years, Indonesia and China heavily focused on nurturing its comprehensive strategic partnership which was first grounded in 2013. The relationship has more than ever recorded higher frequency of exchange either in terms of high official visits, trade and investment, or even people-to-people exchange.
According to World Bank and IMF data, in terms of economy, China is the largest contributor for global GDP growth while Indonesia ranks the fourth. This makes a solid foundation as the economic statistic of the two countries will continue to grow steadily over the next couple of years (see graphic 1 & 2).
However, to calculate economic projection for the next 30 years and set it as the new target for Indonesia and China’s relationship is rather complacent. Instead of highlighting the numbers, the vision should be placed on the area where the two countries would be leading in 2050. And that is digital economy and technology.
Now, China is the frontrunner in the innovative digital technology and has produced the greatest number of start-up companies in the world. On the other hand, Indonesia has been said to follow the track of China’s digital economy in the South East Asia, as quoted from VentureBeat: “Indonesia is an investment opportunity like China was in 2008”. Furthermore, Indonesia’s digital economy has reached an inflection point where its growth overcome the initial prediction of many experts and observers, now predicted to lead the Southeast Asian digital economy size of 300 billion US Dollar by 2025.
In early 2020, digital economy and technology remain sturdy even with global economy being hit by COVID-19 pandemic. The innovation in digital economy and technology has been helping people to cope with the new situation and lifestyle. Digital conferences are replacing the traditional meetings, robots and drones are more crucial than ever to assist people, and digital media and applications are the new norms for human interaction. We are facing a “new normal” and it will be important how we could adapt and embrace the many opportunities of the future.
Interestingly, while other sectors are showing slowdown, this sector is recording growth. It is worth noted as well, with current economic situation, Indonesia and China are among few countries in the world predicted to survive 2020 with positive economic growth. This further highlights the need for Indonesia and China to work together and explore the possibility of wider cooperation.
For this reason, the Government of Indonesia has been pursuing digital economy agenda in its policy. With China, Indonesia has been cooperating closely in the sector of e-commerce, digital sector financing as well as digital infrastructure.
This can be seen from the appointment of Jack Ma as the advisor for Indonesia’s e-commerce roadmap development as well as many other China’s private sector investments in the area. It can be said that China has been partly contributing to the boom in Indonesia’s digital economy for the past five years.
However, there are still plenty of opportunity for cooperation in this sector. Last year, the Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia in Beijing held a seminar in blockchain technology. While the technology is considerably new and early in its phase of development, it holds big potential to be the technology of the future. And for the same reason, the cooperation between Indonesia and China should also move in this direction. It would be interesting to see Indonesia and China working together in the area of Big Data, Artificial Intelligence, as well as Internet of Things by forming joint venture, joint research, or even co-organizing global events in the issue of digital economy and technology.
Concludingly, exchanging ideas and mapping concrete cooperation in the digital economy and technology are one of the main core of the 70th anniversary of bilateral relationship between Indonesia and China beyond the traditional exchange of visits, trade, investment, and social interaction. Ideas on how the future could be shaped by the two countries should be the essential force to drive the new trajectory for Indonesia and China’s relationship. So that by 2050, the two nations may look back and say that 2020 is indeed the decisive year that brought the new future of Indonesia and China.
Ambassador of the Republic of Indonesia to the People’s Republic of China Djauhari Oratmangun