Batam PDN Project Stopped, Komdigi Invites Europe To Invest Data Centers In Indonesia

JAKARTA - The Ministry of Communication and Digital Affairs welcomes European technology investors and companies to explore opportunities for cooperation and investment in the cloud computing ecosystem and data center development in Indonesia.

According to the Deputy Minister of Communication and Digital Affairs, Nezar Patria, the increase in digital infrastructure needs in Indonesia has made the opportunity for cloud computing investment and data centers to grow.

Therefore, when receiving an EU-ASEAN Business Council Chairman Audience, Jens R\"ubbert, Nezar stated that the government is ready to cooperate with industry players and stakeholders to create an inclusive and secure digital ecosystem.

"We welcome European investors and technology companies to explore opportunities in Indonesia's growing cloud computing ecosystem and data management," Nezar said in his official broadcast quoted on Thursday, February 6.

Jens R\"ubbert also expressed interest and commitment from delegates to invest in Indonesia. According to him, delegates from various industries want to know the latest issue of digitalization in Indonesia.

"We have 129 delegates representing 49 different companies and organizations. So this is one of the largest delegates ever and I think it shows strong interest and is also a commitment to Indonesia," he explained.

Meanwhile, the government continues to try to invite the cooperation of several countries to build data infrastructure in the country, recently the Minister of Communication and Trade revealed that the National Data Center (PDN) development project in Batam was stopped.

In a Joint Working Meeting of Commission I of the Indonesian House of Representatives on Tuesday, February 4, the Minister of Trade, Meutya Hafid, said that the termination of the Batam PDN development was because the government had no longer extended its contract with South Korea.

"The Batam data center is a long program, we have a cooperation contract with South Korea, then there is no continuation. We suspect it is because maybe the political conditions in South Korea, which yesterday also had turbulence, so we actually lost two years of not building anything," said Meutya.

Having spent two years in vain and no development, finally Meutya as the new Minister of Communication and Trade decided not to extend the contract.

"This is very complicated. We lost momentum building a large data center. So we decided, as the Minister of Trade, even though South Korea seems to be extended again, but because it has been two years, in the end the contract has not been continued," he concluded.