Indonesia, China expand cooperation in training and technology

  Indonesia and China have agreed to broaden cooperation in human resource development, technology transfer, and vocational education as the two countries mark 76 years of diplomatic relations, Indonesian officials said on Thursday.

The expanded partnership aims to strengthen capacity-building programs and accelerate knowledge sharing in strategic sectors, particularly digitalization and technology, according to officials speaking at the "Alumni Gathering: Indonesia-China Technical Cooperation Programme" in Jakarta.

Sari Harjanti, Expert Staff to the Minister of State Secretary for Political Communication and Public Relations, said the long-running cooperation had delivered significant benefits to Indonesia in infrastructure, agriculture, and transmigration development.

"This has been very beneficial for Indonesia as a developing country, particularly in infrastructure, agriculture, and transmigration," Sari said.

More than 400 Indonesian alumni have participated in programs facilitated under the bilateral cooperation framework, she said.

Indonesia plans to further expand the initiative through new programs, including formal degree education, vocational training, and South-South Cooperation initiatives, in addition to existing short-course programs.

Sari said the Ministry of State Secretariat, through its Bureau of Technical Cooperation, serves as the gateway for international cooperation programs before coordinating them with relevant ministries and agencies.

She added that digitalization and technology had emerged as priority areas for faster collaboration between the two countries.

"The programs we want to adopt more quickly are in digitalization and technology. Those are the areas we want to achieve most rapidly," she said.

Chinese Ambassador to Indonesia Wang Lutong said the alumni gathering was the first event of its kind organized by the Chinese Embassy in Indonesia and would be held again next year.

According to Wang, more than 4,000 Indonesians have participated in training programs and study visits to China over the past two decades, including civil servants, teachers, and village heads.

"Trade and investment are not everything in Indonesia-China relations. People are always the foundation of bilateral ties, and they should be the ones who benefit from this cooperation," Wang said.

He said China was not only focused on training and capacity-building programs but was also promoting tangible projects designed to deliver direct benefits to communities in both countries.

Among the planned initiatives are a vocational school center in Papua and a rice production hub that will apply Chinese agricultural technology to help increase rice output in the eastern Indonesian region.

"We are developing several concrete programs and projects designed to bring real benefits to the people of Indonesia and China," Wang said.