Excellencies, Ministers,  

Secretary General of ITU, Mr. Houlin Zhao, 

Distinguished delegates, Ladies and Gentlemen, 

1. Greetings from Indonesia. Allow me to express my sincere congratulations to the ITU for the successful convening of the Sixth World Telecommunication/ICT Policy Forum. The theme of this year’s forum is indeed crucial, as the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated digital transformation in an unprecedented way, creating unlimited potentials for emerging technologies such as 5G, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT), and many others, to grow.  

2. During the pandemic, AI and Big Data technologies have contributed greatly to the COVID-19 handling efforts, for example in assessing infection risks, predicting evolution of the virus, as well as tracking and tracing cases of the disease. This year, UNCTAD reported that emerging technologies already represent a USD 350 billion market, of which the market could grow to USD 3.2 trillion by 2025. It means that in less than 5 years, the market of emerging technologies will grow by almost ten-fold. 

Excellencies,  

3. While it is true that emerging technologies pose many opportunities for improving people’s lives and generating economic values, it is important to note that technology disruption has never been neutral—it creates winners and losers. On this note, we must be cautious of the challenges that could rise from a digital paradox, especially in some parts of the world where digital divide remains existing. Without a holistic approach and deliberate efforts, rapid digital innovation could exacerbate the existing gaps and inequalities within society, due to issues related to the lack of access to connectivity, affordable internet services, or digital skills, as outlined in the ITU’s Secretary General’s Report. 

4. Having acknowledged these challenges, the Government of Indonesia believes that digital transformation must be inclusive and empowering, to further realize the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Goals of leaving no one behind. In increasing the growth and innovation of emerging technologies, while bridging the digital divide, the Ministry of Communications and Informatics has initiated several policies and programs, namely: 

1. Farming and refarming frequency spectrum, to meet a total of 2,047 MHz frequency spectrum demand by the end of 2024, to support the 5G network deployment. Since June this year, 5G networks have been commercially available in 9 areas in Indonesia; 

2. Neutral technology policy, which enables flexibility for telecommunication providers to utilize allocated radio frequency spectrum to implement 3G, 4G, or 5G technology; 

3. Analog Switch Off by November 2022 to allow utilization of a digital dividend in the 700 MHz band for wide-coverage 5G deployments; and 

4. Facilitating spectrum and telecommunication infrastructure sharing to optimize utilization of resources, as well as to foster growth and competitiveness of service providers, especially with the advent of 5G networks. 

5. Concurrently, we believe that the development of emerging technologies requires a collaborative effort of all stakeholders. In this regard, Indonesia implements blended financing approach through the Universal Service Obligation (USO) as well as Public Private Partnership (PPP) schemes to support massive and accelerative infrastructure development, including in the remote areas. On this opportunity, we also reaffirm the valuable work of international organizations, such as the ITU, in assisting countries with trainings, technical guidance, and provision of experts, to support the transfer of knowledge and accelerate technology adoption globally. 

Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, 

6. To end my remarks, I would like to highlight that as an incoming Chair of G20 Digital Economy Working Group, the Ministry of Communications and Informatics will also discuss the opportunities and challenges those emerging technologies brought to the digital landscape, through our three priority issues, namely: (i) Post COVID-19 recovery and connectivity; (ii) Digital skills and literacy; and (iii) Cross-border data flow and data free flow with trust.  

7. Finally, I would like to congratulate the ITU once again for the successful forum today and I wish all the delegates a fruitful discussion. 

Thank you.