Indonesia Signs WAICO Establishment, Joins Global AI Organisation

Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto led an Indonesian delegation on a working visit to Shanghai, China, from 16 to 19 July 2026. The main agenda of this strategic visit was the signing of an agreement to establish the World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization (WAICO), aimed at accelerating digital transformation and strengthening the national industrial ecosystem. “Indonesia’s involvement as one of the first signatories in the formation of this organisation affirms the Government’s proactive commitment to ensuring Indonesia plays a role as a key subject in the global digital economy constellation, not merely as a market,” said Minister Airlangga in Shanghai. WAICO is an international organisation initiated as a forum to formulate governance, ethical standards, and collaborative development of Artificial Intelligence (AI) at the global level. Indonesia’s participation in WAICO follows up on a bilateral cooperation commitment in the digital economy sector, which was previously signed in 2022 by Minister Airlangga and China’s Minister of Commerce, Wang Wentao. The signing of WAICO’s establishment is projected to provide a significant boost to the Government’s efforts to make the digital economy sector a primary engine for Indonesia’s new economic growth. Beyond the signing ceremony, the working visit was also directed at strengthening strategic partnerships, securing investment commitments, and encouraging collaboration in technology transfer within the AI, telecommunications infrastructure, and advanced robotics sectors with several leading Chinese companies. This historic momentum in Shanghai will also be utilised to accelerate the shift in bilateral investment patterns towards high value-added sectors. In recent years, China has consistently been one of the largest sources of investment for Indonesia. In 2025, Chinese investment in Indonesia was recorded at USD7.5 billion. When accumulated with investment from Hong Kong, which reached USD10.6 billion, the total foreign direct investment from these two regions ranks first and is the largest nationally. In addition to increasingly close investment relations, the Indonesia-China economic partnership is also supported by growing trade ties. China is Indonesia’s largest trading partner, with Indonesia’s main export commodities including mineral products, iron and steel, nickel, vegetable oils, and metal ores. In 2025, total trade between the two countries reached USD167.36 billion, according to data from the General Administration of Customs of China (GACC). Meanwhile, for the period of January to June 2026, the trade balance showed a surplus for Indonesia of USD5.6 billion. Chinese investment in Indonesia is still dominated by basic industrial sectors, such as the metal and electricity industries. Through the signing of WAICO, the Government is targeting a significant leap in capital flows into high-tech industrial sectors that can strengthen national economic transformation, increase productivity, and create greater added value. As a follow-up to these efforts, Minister Airlangga is scheduled to hold a series of business meetings and investment promotions directly with the leadership of several leading Chinese technology companies, including ByteDance, Unitree, Deep Robotics, and FiberHome. “These meetings are expected to produce concrete cooperation opportunities that can accelerate the development of a high-tech industrial ecosystem, expand knowledge and technology transfer, and strengthen the competitiveness of national industry,” Minister Airlangga emphasised.