JAKARTA - In the midst of the turmoil of global economic dynamics, market fluctuations, and accelerating technological transformation, the business world is faced with the challenge of daring to adapt to change and take new steps.
In this context, Grab Indonesia presents the Grab Business Forum's annual event with the theme Beyond Bolder: Navigating Changes, Driving Growth, as a strategic dialogue space that brings together policymakers, company leaders, and stakeholders from various industrial sectors to review business resilience and build long-term growth.
Entering the sixth year, the Grab Business Forum 2025 event took place at the Fairmont Hotel, Jakarta and was attended by nearly 1,400 visitors from more than 800 companies. The forum event opened with a special presentation by the Deputy for Climate and Investment Development, the Ministry of Investment and Downstreaming of the Republic of Indonesia Dr. Riyatno, SH, LLM, as well as the Senior Economist and former Minister of Finance of the Republic of Indonesia for the 2013-2014 period Chatib Basri. All three provide a macro perspective on the direction of national economic policy, investment projections, and the importance of adaptability in the midst of market dynamics that continues to change.
In the Grab Business Forum 2025, Grab highlighted the role of technology as key in facing increasingly dynamic business challenges. Director of Grab For Business Roy Nugroho, added reliable platform support, such as Grab For Business and various B2B Grab solutions designed to simplify all business operational needs.
Meanwhile, Grab Indonesia Country Marketing Head Melinda Savitri, emphasized how brands can utilize Grab ecosystems to improve their brand and products and products through integrated creative campaigns in Grab and OVO ecosystems. By utilizing platforms such as GrabAds, brands can reach millions of Grab users and Partners on target through various touchpoints. Furthermore, Head of Product Geo Grab Pradeep Varadaraja explained that GrabMaps plays an important role in helping companies and users navigate the world that continues to move quickly through AI. Like one of the auto-validation features that allows Grab systems to detect and verify travel routes automatically and in real time.
Meanwhile, during the panel discussion session, President Director of PT Kereta Api Indonesia (KAI) Didiek Hartantyo, CEO of PT Paragon Technology and Innovation Salman Subakat, and Director of Network & Retail Funding PT Bank Negara Indonesia Tbk Rian Kaslan shared experiences about the company's tips in dealing with rapid changes in the digitalization era.
According to a 2025 World Economic Outlook report from the IMF in April 2025, global economic growth in 2025 is projected to slow down to 2.8 percent from the previous projection of 3.3 percent, following the escalation of global policy uncertainty and geopolitical tension. Indonesia also did not escape its impact. However, the Indonesian economy still shows relative resilience and positive growth. The Central Statistics Agency (BPS) recorded that Indonesia's economic growth in the first quarter of 2025 reached 4.87 percent.
Deputy for Climate and Investment Development, Ministry of Investment and Downstreaming of the Republic of Indonesia, Dr. Riyatno, SH, LL.M said that investment was the second largest driver of Indonesia's economic growth by 29.15 percent last year. In the midst of the current challenging situation, the digital economy and data center are one of the priority industrial sectors that have great potential for investment.
Moreover, he continued, Indonesia's digital economy this year is projected to reach USD 130 billion or 44 percent of the total projected digital economy in Southeast Asia. Of course this is a huge potential.
"Therefore, we encourage triple helix collaboration, namely synergy between the government, industry, and academics to achieve better economic growth," he said in a written statement, Thursday, May 15.
MotoGP Marc Marquez, who was able to rise despite falling 27 times in the same season, is actually formed from adaptability when facing risks, not from efforts to avoid it.
"The courage in business and economics is not just a matter of being brave enough to take risks, but about how to stay wise and responsive when the future is uncertain. And it can only be achieved if we are used to falling, but fall safely," he said.
Furthermore, he emphasized that Indonesia has a relatively lower level of exposure to external pressure than many other countries. With a smaller export to GDP ratio, and a dependence on the US market of only about 2.5 percent of GDP, Indonesia is considered to have a more stable space to survive and keep growing.
"In the midst of a shaky world, sometimes what we need is not a perfect country, but a better country than any other alternative. Indonesia may not be the most brilliant, but precisely because the world is in trouble, we are becoming relatively more interesting," he continued.
Meanwhile, the Country Managing Director of Grab Indonesia, Neneng Goenadi, underlined the importance of courage to experiment and be careful in developing new strategies.
In the midst of increasingly dynamic markets, optimism remains relevant. Today's business navigation is not a matter of waiting for certainty, but how to quickly transform through data and technology information. We present the Grab Business Forum as a forum for creating cross-sector collaboration spaces, formulating a strategic strategy, and building a resilient and sustainable business ecosystem," he added.
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Director of Grab for Business Grab Indonesia, Roy Nugroho added, the courage to experiment must be accompanied by a trusted platform to support productivity, efficiency, and control in the company.
"Grab For Business and a series of B2B solutions from Grab such as GrabAds and GrabMaps play a role in simplifying daily operations, ranging from mobility, logistics, food delivery, daily basic necessities, to data-based cost control," said Neneng.
Grab For Business is a B2B solution from Grab that presents various integrated services in one portal, ranging from transportation, shipping, food, to shopping and digital advertising. Now, companies can also access utility payment services and choose flexible payment methods as needed, such as corporate billing, credit cards, OVO, and others. To date, tens of thousands of companies in Indonesia have taken advantage of Grab For Business platforms, from small businesses to large corporations, to increase their operational efficiency and productivity.
The English, Chinese, Japanese, Arabic, and French versions are automatically generated by the AI. So there may still be inaccuracies in translating, please always see Indonesian as our main language. (system supported by DigitalSiber.id)
