Indonesian Experts Call for China–ASEAN Cooperation in Language and AI Training

RRI.CO.ID, Kuala Lumpur - Indonesian professionals praised the China–ASEAN Conference of Translation, Interpreting, and Communication held in Xiamen University Malaysia on Saturday, 18 April 2026. They are suggesting measures further to foster cultural exchange between ASEAN countries and China.

Lecturer at Universitas Gadjah Mada, Sajarwa Sukiyo, spoke highly of the conference, describing it as “very good and beneficial,” and called on universities to deepen collaboration, particularly in translation research. He candidly pointed out that Indonesian universities have not yet begun cultivating the globally minded, bilingual, and bicultural talents that the association aims to foster, and urge greater attention to this area.

He also recommended concrete international cooperation projects, including cross-university and cross-border faculty and student exchanges, as well as joint online lectures. He further urged the newly established association to prioritize the development of China–ASEAN translator qualification standards, suggesting that Indonesia could take the lead in drafting such a framework.

"Finally, he observed that many Indonesians associate China primarily with trade and technology, and believe that enhanced cross-cultural communication will broaden that understanding," the Xiamen University statement said, as received by RRI Voice of Indonesia on Sunday, April 19, 2026.

Vice Chair of the Indonesian Translators Association, Eki Qushay Akhwan, conveyed that he had gained a great deal from the conference. He noted that the emergence of artificial intelligence (AI) brings both significant challenges and opportunities to translator education.

On the challenge side, Eki sees that market demands for translation professionals are changing. In addition to traditional language skills and translation techniques, graduates now need to master technology-assisted translation, post-editing, terminology management, data literacy, quality assurance, and AI ethics.

"Without timely curriculum adjustments, he warned, graduates may struggle to meet the rapidly evolving demands of the industry," the statement said.

As a representative of the Indonesian Translators Association, he eagerly looks forward to concrete cooperation with the China–ASEAN Association of Translation, Interpreting, and Communication to jointly address the challenges posed by AI. He noted that technological challenges transcend national borders, and responses should therefore be regional in scope, as no single institution or country can solve all challenges alone.

Finally, he proposed some priority areas for cooperation, such as developing AI literacy and quality management curricula, teaching materials, and training programs tailored to the ASEAN regional context; strengthening professional training for university teachers, trainers, and practitioners; and conducting joint research and promoting two-way exchanges of students and experts. Other ways include establishing regional translation competency standards and certification systems and developing digital language resources, including corpora, multilingual glossaries, and high-quality datasets to support language technology development for languages in the region.