Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella (center) arrives for a meeting with Indonesian President Joko Widodo at Merdeka Palace in Jakarta on April 30, 2024. (Photo by BAY ISMOYO / AFP) (Photo by BAY ISMOYO/AFP via Getty Images )
Ismoyo Bay | Afp | Getty Images
Microsoft announced on Tuesday that it would inject $1.7 billion into Indonesia over the next four years to build new cloud and AI infrastructure. The announcement was made as CEO Satya Nadella met with Indonesian President Joko Widodo the same day.
Microsoft said the funds will also be used to train 840,000 Indonesians in AI skills and support the local developer community.
“This next generation of AI is reshaping the way people live and work everywhere, including in Indonesia,” Nadella, Microsoft’s chairman and CEO, said in a statement.
“The investments we are announcing today – covering digital infrastructure, skills and support for developers – will help Indonesia thrive in this new era,” Nadella said.
Microsoft also said it will partner with governments, organizations and communities to provide AI skills opportunities to 2.5 million people in member states of the Association of South Asian Nations -East by 2025.
Nadella met with Jokowi in Jakarta on Tuesday to discuss topics such as technological advancements and AI that will help Indonesia move forward, according to Indonesia’s Antara news agency.
Indonesia wants to become a developed country, as outlined in its Golden Indonesia Vision 2045, which aims to make the country a global economic power by 2045.
Microsoft’s investment will allow it to capitalize on growing demand for cloud computing services in Indonesia, while enabling the country to seize economic and productivity opportunities arising from AI, the tech giant said.
Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Culture Muhadjir Effendy said in January that Indonesia faced enormous challenges in improving its workforce to be able to compete in a technological and globalized era.
Indonesia has a growing, young and tech-savvy population, with Generation Z – those born between 1997 and 2012 – making up almost 28% of the population, or 75.49 million people. The number of millennials, those born between 1981 and 1996, reaches 69.9 million people, or 25.9% of the population.
Microsoft opened its first data center region in Indonesia in 2021 to meet customers’ data storage needs in the country.
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