International tech giants are keen to invest in Indonesia’s digital economy showcasing the country’s potential to attract multinational firms. The government has also been actively trying to accommodate more businesses from the US, in particular those looking to shift all or part of their operations from China. Up to 4,000 hectares of land in Central Java province in the Batang Industrial Park have been allocated for these tech firms.
Now, another international tech giant is creating a brand-new data centre region in Indonesia, which it hopes will help to boost the country’s digital growth and provide skills opportunities for three million citizens.
The “Berdayakan Ekonomi” Digital Indonesia initiative aims to deliver local and trusted cloud services to Indonesia, meaning that citizens can leverage the tech company’s expertise in data security, storage, and privacy. The data centre region will house the tech giant’s flagship infrastructures with power, network, and cooling capabilities able to support operations in the event of data centre failures.
Businesses will be able to access one of the firm’s flagship services, which enables anyone to invent with purpose using cloud services and capabilities that span computing, networking, databases, analytics, artificial intelligence, and the Internet of Things (IoT).
The tech giant’s executive vice president and president of global sales, marketing, and operations add that the company has been supporting Indonesia for 26 years. From e-commerce to agriculture, Indonesian businesses across all sectors are gaining a digital advantage with the agility, security and scale offered by their cloud services, she added.
They also said that to ensure everyone can take advantage of the digital opportunities ahead, the tech giant will continue to support digital skilling, with a new programme that will reach over 24 million Indonesians by the end of 2021. The tech company further states that the Indonesia data centre region will support its sustainability goals, such as its shift to a 100% supply of renewable energy in its data centres by 2025.
According to reports, the tech giant’s investment in Indonesia could generate US$6.3 billion in new revenues and create 60,000 jobs in the local economy. The tech giant’s President and Director for Indonesia say that the company has more than 150 employees and 7000 partners across the country’s 17,000 islands.
Moreover, this recent investment to establish local data centres, digital skilling and collaboration with the Government of Indonesia will support local innovation, economic recovery, and digital transformation, said Indonesia Minister of Communication and Information, Johnny G. Plate. He also noted that the local data centre region will also benefit government, businesses, and people across all sectors – and the tech company’s commitment to nurturing digital talent is also welcomed.
It was reported that Indonesia is continuing to improve its investment environment through regulatory reforms. Its parliament has approved the issuance of the Omnibus Law, which includes amendments to labour laws – often a sticking point for foreign investors looking to establish in Indonesia. Before the Omnibus Law was passed, Indonesia had a “negative list” that specified that certain industries were completely closed to capital, or open only under certain conditions. The country did not have a comprehensive system for incentivising investment.
Despite the economic drag from the COVID-19 pandemic, investment in Indonesia remained robust last year. Combined domestic and foreign investment in 2020 reached 826.3 trillion rupiahs, up 2% on the year. Although foreign direct investment fell 2.4%, domestic investment grew 7%.
