Jakarta (ANTARA) - Minister of Communication and Information (Menkominfo) Budi Arie Setiadi invited investors in the Technology, Information and Communication (ICT) sector to make Indonesia an investment destination for the development of artificial intelligence (AI).

He conveyed this based on data that ASEAN continues to experience positive growth in the opportunities for AI's contribution to the regional economy, which in 2020 reached 1 billion US dollars, increasing to 11 billion US dollars in 2022.

“Private investment destinations in the AI ​​sector are still dominated by the United States, China and the United Kingdom. (Even though) the digital sector also continues to grow rapidly in the ASEAN region with the investment value in the ICT sector increasing," said Budi in Tangerang, Banten, Friday.

While opening himself up to foreign investors investing capital for the development of AI in Indonesia, Budi also invited players in the national digital technology ecosystem to take the opportunity to develop AI as an innovation and solution.

Budi said that the potential of AI is increasingly promising with the opportunity for competitive AI startup investment value to reach 1 trillion US dollars in ASEAN GDP by 2030.

Meanwhile in Indonesia, the digital sector has succeeded in attracting approximately 22 billion US dollars of investment in 2023.

"The market potential is also predicted to reach 210 billion to 360 billion US dollars in 2030, dominated by the e-commerce, online travel, transportation and food industries, as well as online media. The figure for AI's contribution to the Indonesian economy in 2030 is predicted to reach 366 billion US dollars. "This sector will be Indonesia's economic growth in the future," he said.

The Minister of Communication and Information explained that this potential shows AI as emerging technologies or technology that is developing and increasingly trusted in various sectors.

“As many as 73 percent of the 700 global AI developers believe that AI will be adopted by their organizations in the next two years. "AI is also trusted to provide solutions for various sectors in developing countries, such as in the fields of education, health, public and finance, as well as labor," he said.

He also believes that efforts to create digital equality can also be bridged by AI, which is said to be an accelerator in the digital space.

Acceleration of access to digital services using AI, said Budi, can occur through providing access to better information and public services, especially in rural or other remote areas.

"Apart from that, AI also has the opportunity to increase economic productivity through automation and innovation, so that MSMEs are able to compete in the digital era," he said.

Even so, he did not forget to mention that there are still several challenges in AI development that need to be watched out for and solutions sought so that Indonesia can become the right country for AI investment destinations by investors.

One of them is uneven infrastructure development and limited funding which hinders internet penetration as a foundation for AI development.

"Apart from that, the lack of transfer of knowledge from AI developing countries also limits the development of AI governance in a country," said Minister Budi.

(SOURCE)