Minister: Applications are driving the national creative economy

Creative Economy Minister Teuku Riefky Harsya has stated that the application subsector is now one of the main drivers of the national creative economy. According to data from the Central Statistics Agency (BPS), the application subsector became the highest investment destination in the creative economy sector in 2025, even surpassing the fashion, culinary, craft, film, and music subsectors. This condition, he said, demonstrates the immense potential of the application industry as a growth engine for Indonesia’s digital economy and it will continue to be developed. “Investment in the application subsector is currently the highest in the creative economy sector. This is a great opportunity that we must seize together,” said Minister Teuku after attending the Soft Launching of the Indonesia Application Summit (IN-APPS) 2026 in BSD City, Tangerang. Minister Teuku also stated that digital applications are no longer just technological products, but a new engine driving the national creative economy. Therefore, through IN-APPS 2026, the Ministry of Creative Economy aims to strengthen synergy between the government, industry, and digital talent so that Indonesia can produce more globally competitive applications. The national application industry still faces various challenges. Consequently, the Ministry of Creative Economy is collaborating with various parties to build a stronger ecosystem through the Indonesia Apps Summit. The forum brings together various stakeholders, including academics, business players, associations, financial institutions, cross-ministerial government bodies, and international partners, to encourage the development of a more competitive application industry. Indonesia has many digital talents capable of producing quality innovations and application products. “However, these talents need support to commercialise intellectual property, gain access to financing, and expand their markets to a global level,” he said. He explained that the Ministry of Creative Economy will continue to assist industry players across the entire value chain, from idea development, production processes, distribution, and marketing, to intellectual property rights protection. Through the Indonesia Apps Summit 2025, the government hopes that collaboration between the government, industry, academics, investors, and communities can further strengthen the competitiveness of the application subsector while encouraging the birth of more digital innovations by the nation’s youth capable of penetrating the international market. “We do not want startups or application developers to grow only momentarily and then stop because they lose competitiveness. What we are pushing for is how they can grow into larger, sustainable companies capable of competing at the global level,” said Teuku. Deputy for Digital Creativity and Technology at the Ministry of Creative Economy, Muhammad Neil El Himam, stated that IN-APPS 2026 is the first national forum specifically highlighting the application subsector as part of strengthening Indonesia’s creative economy. The forum is designed to bring together the government, industry players, application developers, startups, investors, academics, associations, and digital communities in one collaborative ecosystem. “Cross-sector collaboration in strengthening the national application ecosystem, ranging from increasing digital talent capacity, strengthening business models, to expanding access to financing and investment for local application developers,” he said. The Indonesia Application Summit (IN-APPS) 2026 will be held on 16–17 September 2026 in BSD City, featuring a series of conferences, exhibitions, and broader business collaboration sessions to strengthen Indonesia’s position as a new force in the digital application industry in the region. Djarot Subiantoro, Chairman of the Indonesian Telematics Software Association (ASPILUKI), said the association is fully committed to supporting the organisation of IN-APPS 2026 as a strategic platform for local application developers to collaborate, share insights, and expand business networks, both nationally and internationally.