Indonesian minister urges culture-based economy to drive growth

Jakarta (ANTARA) - Culture Minister Fadli Zon said Indonesia's vast cultural assets can be developed into a source of economic growth and diplomacy.

"With around 1,340 ethnic groups, 718 regional languages, thousands of intangible cultural heritage elements, and various World Heritage sites, Indonesia has a strong foundation for building a culture-based economy," he said in a statement on Sunday.

According to Fadli, culture should be positioned as a strategic foundation for achieving national economic independence.

He described culture as both a civilizational resource and an engine of growth capable of creating added value and improving public welfare.

"The economic independence that we aspire to must grow from our own strengths, side with the people, and be rooted in Indonesian culture. A sovereign nation knows itself, controls its resources, produces its own knowledge, and ensures that prosperity returns to its people," he said.

Fadli said economic independence should not be viewed merely in terms of fiscal, monetary, or trade policies, but also through a nation's ability to develop knowledge, preserve its identity, strengthen social cohesion, and harness public creativity.

"Culture is both the capital and the infrastructure of civilization. It shapes the way a nation produces, adapts, innovates, and builds solidarity," he said.

He added that culture should be integrated into the strategy for economic independence rather than treated as a decorative element or merely a complement to development.

Fadli also stressed the importance of downstreaming cultural assets to ensure that the added value generated from cultural heritage, traditional knowledge, and national creativity benefits cultural practitioners, artists, artisans, indigenous communities, and the regions where those cultural assets originate.

To support that goal, the Ministry of Culture will strengthen strategic programs, including the development of a national cultural database, expansion of cultural downstreaming, and stronger copyright and communal intellectual property protection.

It will also expand access to financing and markets for cultural actors and encourage universities to become centers for research, innovation, documentation, and science-based cultural industry development.

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Translator: Bayu Prasetyo

Editor: Anton Santoso

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