Indonesia Discusses Opportunities To Become A Co-Host WAVES 2026, Minister Of Culture Fadli Zon Encourages Cross-Sector Cultural Diplomacy

MUMBAI - Minister of Culture Fadli Zon held a bilateral meeting with the Minister of Information and Broadcasting of India, Awwini Vaishnaw, to discuss the opportunity for Indonesia to become the co-host of the World Audio Visual & Entertainment Summit (WAVES) 2026.

This meeting is a follow-up to Fadli Zon's remarks at the 2025 WAVES Dialogue Global Media forum which was held the day before in Mumbai. In the forum, Fadli emphasized the importance of cultural diplomacy as a soft force to build peace, social resilience, and economic growth.

"This Forum produces the WAVES Declaration which contains a commitment to strengthening cultural and language diversity, expanding access to inclusive media, utilizing AI responsibly, fighting disinformation, and encouraging media contributions to the achievement of SDGs," said Menbud Fadli Zon in a statement received on Saturday, May 3.

In addition to meeting Indian officials, Menbud Fadli Zon also discussed with a number of creative industry leaders, including Uraaz Bahl (proper and filmmaker developers), as well as Rakesh Swami, President of the Corporate Godrej Group, an Indian company that is known to be innovative and sustainable.

Menbud Fadli also visited the National Film Development Corporation and the National Museum of Indian Cinema. In this meeting, Indonesia was invited to attend the Goa Film Festival as the first step to strengthen collaboration in the field of cinema.

Fadli Zon's work agenda ended with a meeting with Vineeta Dixit, Spotify Regional Director for Asia Pacific. Digital platforms such as Spotify are considered strategic in opening access to cross-border culture through music and audio.

"Learning from India, we must build a cultural ecosystem that strategically connects artists, industry and technology. We need to strengthen production capacity, expand markets, and support cultural actors to adapt digitally," said Fadli Zon.

Closing his visit, Fadli Zon witnessed the performance of traditional Balinese dances from Indonesian students in Mumbai at the Indonesia Cultural Performance WAVES 2025 which was held at the Palladium Mall. On this occasion, the World Culture Forum (WCF) 2025 will also be promoted which will take place in Bali at the end of the year.