Jakarta - The Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) together with the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), the Indonesian Ministry of Education, Culture, Research and Technology (Kemdikbudristek), the Indonesian Ministry of Environment and Forestry, and PT Alam Semesta Integra (PT ASA) held a socialisation themed ‘Collaborative Innovation: Improving Industrial Competitiveness Through Research, ESG, and Green Solutions’ at Menara Kadin Indonesia, South Jakarta, Tuesday (08/07/2025).

The event was attended by a number of important figures, including Vice Chair Coordinator for Human Development, Culture, and Sustainable Development of Kadin Indonesia Shinta Widjaja Kamdani, Vice Chair for Research and Technology of Kadin Indonesia Ilham Habibie, Vice Chair for Green Industry of Kadin Indonesia Halim Kalla, Head of BRIN Laksana Tri Handoko, Director General of Research and Development of Kemdikbudristek Mohammad Fauzan Adziman, and CEO of PT ASA Edi Setiawan.

More than just a seminar, the event was also a concrete part of Kadin's support for the strategic agenda of President Prabowo Subianto's administration, particularly in realising technological independence, clean energy security, and accelerating the transition to a globally competitive green and low-carbon economy.

Kadin Indonesia's Vice Chair Coordinator for Human Development, Culture and Sustainable Development Shinta Widjaja Kamdani emphasised the importance of research synergy to support the transition to a sustainable green economy, particularly in the energy sector.

‘This is one of the extraordinary efforts so that technology can be utilised by industry. We believe technology plays an important role, and if we have BRIN in Indonesia, why not utilise it,’ said Shinta.
Shinta added, in the future Kadin and BRIN will continue to develop this collaboration to various other industrial sectors.

‘Beyond the technology aspect, financing and human resources are also key. With this new technology, we can create more jobs, and that is where Kadin comes in,’ she concluded.

Meanwhile, Ilham Habibie said that strengthening domestic research and development is absolutely necessary to encourage Indonesia to become a developed country.

‘We cannot just rely on comparative advantages such as natural resources, but must improve what we make from it. This requires downstreaming, increasing added value, and technology. Technology is developed through innovation, used, applied, and that is what becomes competitiveness,’ he explained.

Furthermore, BRIN Head Laksana Tri Handoko revealed the importance of business involvement in the research ecosystem.

‘They (businesses) inspire us to make our research more targeted and answer market needs, thus increasing the potential for downstreaming. Our current focus is on the food, energy, and health sectors, which actually cover almost everything in terms of business actors,’ he said.

Furthermore, Director General of Research and Development at the Ministry of Education, Culture and Research Mohammad Fauzan Adziman emphasised the importance of campus research based on community needs. He added that campus collaboration with industry will accelerate the utilisation of research results.

‘One of the efforts is to collaborate with industry, in this case Kadin, so that research is closer to the industrial world. If industrial problems can be solved by the campus, research results will be utilised more quickly by the community. Collaboration is one of the keys,’ he said.

Furthermore, PT ASA CEO Edi Setiawan assessed that the collaboration with BRIN, which was bridged by Kadin, was successful. He hopes similar programmes can continue to be supported by the government.

‘We from the industry hope that the central and regional governments can support or endorse programmes like this, so that cooperation between industry and research can be sustainable,’ said Edi.