Chairman Of Commission VII DPR Urges Indonesia To Increase Research And Science

Chairman of Commission VII of the House of Representatives (DPR) Sugeng Suparwoto. (photo: doc. ANTARA)

JAKARTA – Indonesia is low in terms of research and innovation. Data from the Ministry of Research and Technology shows that Indonesia's research publications are still lagging behind Malaysia's.

Therefore, the Chairman of Commission VII of the House of Representatives (DPR) Sugeng Suparwoto urged Indonesia to immediately increase the application of research and science-based policy formulation and regulation formulation.

“Research is very important. As a country, the index of Indonesian research results is actually low, our research products are still very low. This is a challenge for all of us," said Sugeng in a statement in Jakarta, Saturday.

Efforts to formulate regulations and policies based on research and science are believed to attract long-term and sustainable investments, and need to be of great concern to coincide with the moment of the G20 and B20 Presidencies in 2022.

Data from the Ministry of Research and Technology noted, based on the records of the last four years, the total number of Indonesian research publications was 161,928. Still lagging behind Malaysia which produced 173,471 research publications in the same period.

In fact, said Sugeng again, research is needed in many ways, including regulations and policies. The goal is to encourage more investments that contain new knowledge and application of technology.

"So ideally we offer it to international investors based on research data. Research is not just a library, but it can also be in the form of exploration, it's the same as a research-based economy, to get certainty, regarding reserves, economies of scale," he said as quoted by Antara.

According to him, Indonesia has great potential to receive many benefits from implementing research and science-based policies, including the realization of a more long-term economic ecosystem.

The Ministry of National Development Planning/Bappenas in 2021, he also said, emphasized the importance of this that investment alone without research and science-based innovation would be risky.

On that basis, he said, it is important for Indonesia to strengthen policies based on research and science, especially since the results are already visible.

This, he said again, was reflected in several investments, both realized and still in the form of commitments that had already taken place with investment decisions based on research and science.