Coordinating Minister Airlangga: Indonesia and Singapore to Promote Regional Data Centre

Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto has stated that Indonesia and Singapore are currently discussing the development of a regional data centre through cooperation in the Singapore-Johor-Riau area. Airlangga said the discussions are part of strengthening supply chains and the digital economy in the ASEAN region. “We are talking about how to synergise Singapore-Johor-Riau to become a data centre. This is something we are currently discussing and it is strategic in nature,” Airlangga said at the Office of the Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs in Jakarta on Tuesday. According to him, the world is now beginning to see the digital sector as a new source of economic growth that is relatively unaffected by geopolitical conflict. “The global community also sees the digital sector as the next growth trigger because this sector is not disrupted by war,” he stated. Airlangga said the government, together with Singapore, is also continuing to strengthen the development of the Batam-Bintan-Karimun (BBK) area and the Kendal Industrial Estate. “The Kendal Industrial Estate, which currently has almost full utilisation, will expand by another 1,000 hectares,” he said. In addition, the Nongsa Digital Park in Batam is also reportedly nearly full and is in the process of further expansion. The Nongsa area in Batam has been developing as one of the national digital economy centres due to its proximity to Singapore and the support of telecommunications infrastructure and data centres. According to Airlangga, strengthening the digital sector and data centres is important because they do not rely heavily on physical logistics, which are vulnerable to disruption from global conflicts or war. Furthermore, he mentioned that the issues of digitalisation and semiconductors are now also a major focus in global economic discussions, including with the United States and ASEAN countries. “Both in Europe, then in ASEAN, and even in discussions with the USTR (United States Trade Representative). They are also concerned about digitalisation and semiconductors,” he revealed. Previously, the government, together with Danantara Indonesia and technology company Arm Ltd, targeted the development of up to 15,000 Indonesian semiconductor talents within the next three to five years to support the strengthening of the national digital industry.