AI could add $140b to Indonesia's GDP by 2030: report

Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison and research firm Twimbit released the Empowering Indonesia Report 2025, highlighting the potential impact of sovereign AI on Indonesia’s economy.

The report estimates that AI developed and governed within Indonesia could add up to US$140 billion to the country’s GDP by 2030.

It outlines five key areas for AI sovereignty: digital infrastructure, talent, a thriving AI industry, research and innovation, and an ethical and regulatory framework.

Indonesia is projected to need US$3.2 billion in computing infrastructure investments and 400,000 AI professionals by 2030.

The country currently has 364 AI startups with US$1.1 billion in combined funding, while its AI data center capacity is less than 1% of the global market.

The report also highlights national projects such as Sahabat-AI V2, a large language model supporting Bahasa Indonesia and regional languages, and calls for stronger cross-sector collaboration to build a sovereign AI ecosystem.

🔗 Source: Indosat

🧠 Food for thought

Implications, context, and why it matters.

Indonesia’s $140B AI GDP estimate depends on real policy execution

Indonesia’s National AI Roadmap was published in July 2025 1. It projects a $366 billion AI GDP lift by 2030, while Indosat–Twimbit pegs it at $140 billion, with both tied to infrastructure and talent that will be hard to deliver 1.
Research and Development (R&D) spend is 0.28% of GDP 1. 5G penetration sits near 2.5% 1, while local AI data center capacity is under 1% of the global market.
The roadmap proposes a Sovereign AI Fund run by Danantara Indonesia (an Indonesian investment firm) for 2027 to 2029 2. That window overlaps only with the tail of the early 2025–2027 pilot period in independent analyses 3.
Only 24% of business leaders have clear AI governance while 92% of knowledge workers already use generative AI 1.

Training providers can tap government-funded channels to produce 100,000 digital talents in 2025

Digital Talent Scholarship (DTS) targets 100,000 graduates in 2025 across seven academies, after 10,000 finished in the first 100 days of the current cabinet 4.
DTS drew 46,888 applications in one month in 2018 5 and has produced 1 million digital talents since 2018 4.
Curriculum partners include Microsoft and Cisco plus Google 4. Indosat, Alibaba, and AWS also join 4.
Indonesia will need 9 million digital talents by 2030, while formal education can supply about 6 million 4. That leaves a 3 million gap for alternative providers 4.