Indonesia calls for inclusive AI standards to protect developing MSMEs

Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Indonesian government calls for global standards in the development and governance of artificial intelligence (AI) that do not create new barriers for micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in developing countries.

This was conveyed by the Deputy for Coordination of Economic Cooperation and Investment at the Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs, Edi Prio Pambudi, at the 2nd G20 Sherpa Meeting of the United States Presidency in Washington, DC.

"Indonesia requests that global AI standards remain flexible and not become new compliance barriers that discriminate against MSMEs. Developing countries must be co-authors in formulating these standards, not merely implementers of compliance," he said in a statement on Wednesday.

According to Pambudi, Indonesia believes that global AI governance must be designed inclusively, not only accommodating the interests of developed countries but also considering the capacities and needs of developing countries.

In the Innovation Working Group agenda, Indonesia is pushing for the concrete implementation of the G20 Roadmap for Cross-border Payments through the interconnection of QR code-based payment systems across countries.

The measure is expected to reduce transaction costs and ease the burden on migrant workers and MSMEs, Pambudi noted.

Indonesia also raised concern over the increasing losses due to cross-border crypto investment fraud, also known as pig-butchering networks.

To this end, Indonesia is encouraging strengthened cross-border law enforcement cooperation, coupled with increased cyber literacy, particularly among the elderly and novice digital users.

At the forum, Indonesia agreed to prohibit the use of stolen or pirated content to train AI models.

However, Pambudi stressed that international regulations must continue to respect national data protection laws to prevent the unauthorized extraction of sensitive public data.

Currently, the government is finalizing the National AI Roadmap, along with ethical guidelines for AI implementation in the health, education, finance, and creative economy sectors.

Indonesia is also promoting the diversification of AI infrastructure to ensure that developing countries are not merely providers of data and consumers of technology.

The government is advocating stronger public-private partnerships (PPPs) in data center investments and more inclusive cloud computing capacity.

Through this stance, Indonesia seeks a fair and inclusive global digital economy architecture at the G20, one that allows developing countries to contribute to the formulation of international AI standards rather than merely comply with them, Pambudi concluded.

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Translator: Bayu Saputra, Resinta Sulistiyandari

Editor: Azis Kurmala

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