Indonesia Urges Global AI Standards Not to Hinder MSMEs

The Indonesian government has urged that global standards for the development and governance of artificial intelligence (AI) should not become new barriers burdening micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in developing countries. The stance was conveyed by the Deputy for Economic Cooperation and Investment Coordination at the Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs, Edi Prio Pambudi, during the 2nd G20 Sherpa Meeting under the US Presidency in Washington DC. “Indonesia requests that global AI standards be flexible and not turn into new compliance barriers that discriminate against MSMEs. Developing countries must be co-authors in formulating standards, not merely compliance executors,” Edi stated in Jakarta on Wednesday. According to Edi, Indonesia believes that global AI governance must be designed inclusively so that it not only accommodates the interests of developed nations but also considers the capacity and needs of developing countries. In the Innovation Working Group agenda, Indonesia pushed for the concrete implementation of the G20 Roadmap for Cross-border Payments through the interconnection of QR code-based payment systems across countries. This measure is considered capable of reducing transaction costs while easing the burden on migrant workers and MSMEs. Furthermore, Indonesia raised the issue of increasing losses due to cross-border crypto investment scams, known as pig-butchering networks. To address this, Indonesia encouraged strengthening cross-border law enforcement cooperation coupled with enhanced cyber literacy, particularly for the elderly and novice digital users. In the forum, Indonesia also agreed to the prohibition of using stolen or pirated content to train AI models. However, the government stressed that international regulations must still respect national data protection laws to prevent the illegal extraction of sensitive public data. Currently, the government is finalising a National AI Roadmap along with ethical guidelines for AI implementation in the health, education, finance, and creative economy sectors. Indonesia is also pushing for the diversification of AI infrastructure so that developing countries do not merely become data providers and technology consumers. The government proposed strengthening public-private partnerships in investments for data centres and more inclusive cloud computing capacity. Through this position, Indonesia hopes that the global digital economy architecture being discussed at the G20 can proceed fairly and inclusively, while opening greater space for developing countries to contribute to the formulation of international AI standards, rather than just being parties obliged to comply with them.