The Russia-Indonesia business mission is one of a string of international online business missions that have taken place in recent weeks. This latest one was a collaborative effort by the Skolkovo Foundation, the Russia-Indonesia Business Council, the Trade Representation of the Russian Federation in the Republic of Indonesia, the Russian Export Center, and Eximbank of Russia.
As with previous missions, the first day covered an overview of the market area relevant to the participating Skolkovo companies - in this case information communications technology (ICT) solutions. The second day focused on Skolkovo startup pitch sessions, with B2B meetings between Skolkovo companies and potential investors taking place on day three. The pitching companies were from the Skolkovo Foundation’s IT cluster - Videointellect, BRIO MRS, GEOSCAN, Navigine, ELVEES Neo Tek, Searchinform, QRate, NPO Mir, Big Three, and T8.
Arkady Dvorkovich, chairman of the Skolkovo Foundation. Image: Screengrab.
The chairman of the Skolkovo Foundation, Arkady Dvorkovich, opened the session: “On behalf of the Skolkovo Foundation, I am happy to greet you all to the first ever online innovation startup business mission to Indonesia. We have multiple unexplored areas for collaboration and, until now, we didn’t do enough to bring success to our companies, our countries and our people, so let’s start doing that. I would like to thank in particular our business council, our trade representative, and of course the Russian Export Center for making this possible and we would be happy to continue working together to explore those opportunities. Let me thank all the participants on the Indonesian side for your readiness to listen to us, to share your opinions, to find new options for cooperation for making business visas and we are always available for consultations and to assist you in entering the Russian market. Of course, our startups want to enter the Indonesian market and the whole South East Asia economy and I strongly believe that we have multiple opportunities to do so. I wish this business mission every success, and I hope that we find a few projects that we can run in the near future. And, of course, keep safe in the current environment.”
Dr. Ir. Ismail, the Director General of Resource Management and Equipment Standard of Post and Information Technology of the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology of Indonesia. Image: Screengrab.
Dr. Ir. Ismail, the director general of Resource Management and Equipment Standard of Post and Information Technology of the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology of Indonesia, stated that he saw Russian businesses as potential long term investors that would work hand in hand with Indonesian enterprises to create solutions. “We are very open to discussing this situation and I am confident that this meeting will accelerate our joint effort between Russia and Indonesia,” said Dr. Ismail, “especially in a difficult time like this. I firmly believe that this meeting can strengthen the relationship between the Russian Federation and Indonesia.”
Mrs. Lyudmila Vorobieva, Ambassador of the Russian Federation in the Republic of Indonesia. Image: Screengrab.
Mrs. Lyudmila Vorobieva, Ambassador of the Russian Federation in the Republic of Indonesia, noted that this year is a special year in the relationship between the two countries. “This year we are celebrating the seventieth anniversary of the diplomatic relations between Russia and Indonesia, so these kinds of events have a special meaning for building up the cooperation that exists between our two countries,” she said.
The Russian Ambassador then talked about the changes to the global market that Covid-19 has brought and how digitization is accelerating as businesses attempt to cope with the current landscape where new needs have arisen as a result of the pandemic and people are more often than not working remotely. This is particularly relevant in the context of the business mission and the Indonesian market, which is experiencing one of the fastest levels of growth in the IT industry. E-commerce, fintech and smart city technologies are the main drivers of growth in this sector.
Dr. Dadang Solihin, DKI Jakarta Deputy Governor for Culture and Tourism.
Dr. Dadang Solihin, DKI Jakarta deputy governor for the culture and tourism sector, also expressed thanks to the organizers. “We are delighted to join this forum with all of you and would like to convey our sincere thanks and appreciation to the Russian Embassy and its partners in hosting the Russia-Indonesia business forum online.”
Indonesia is the largest market in South East Asia with a population of 267 million people and although its economy has suffered due to the pandemic, its most promising sectors for cooperation are renewable energies, the aviation and space sectors, transport, ICT, agriculture, chemical production, and healthcare.
The Skolkovo startup companies pitched their solutions to an audience of Indonesian government and private sector representatives. The high-tech IT solutions included an AI-based video security system that can detect abandoned items in a controlled area, identify aggressive actions, track crowd forming, and so on; this technology is especially relevant today with governments around the world trying to encourage and enforce social distancing. Another solution involved software for mapping to create a three dimensional model with a high resolution using drones, while yet another solution presented products that provide end-to-end data protection, such as auditing security systems.
Of course, the mission is a first step and what comes next remains to be seen; but with the pandemic continuing to wreak havoc on the world economy, digitization continues to increase and that is a scenario where IT companies will excel.