Indonesia-France Expands Research and Technology Cooperation for Mitigation

RRI.CO.ID, Jakarta – Indonesia and France bolster research and technology cooperation to support disaster mitigation and address climate change challenges. The collaboration includes the development of disaster monitoring technology, satellite data processing, and the enhancement of early warning systems.

The strengthening of the partnership was announced in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the presence of the French Institute for Research and Development (IRD) in Indonesia, Thursday, June 4, 2026. The cooperation involves the Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG), universities, and several research institutions from both countries.

The French Ambassador to Indonesia, Fabien Penone, said that Indonesia and France have long been collaborating in various fields of research. However, both countries are now striving to build a more structured collaboration by setting long-term priorities according to the needs of each country and the global challenges they face together.

"What we want to do is to better structure this cooperation, which means identifying key priorities for the long term, corresponding to the needs of our two countries or the international global challenges we are faced," Ambassador said.

According to him, the governments of both countries will provide funding support and long-term commitments to ensure the sustainability of the joint research program. Meanwhile, the technical implementation will be carried out thru collaboration between scientists and research institutions from both countries.

Meanwhile Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of IRD, Valérie Verdier, explained that the cooperation is aimed at addressing Indonesia's concrete needs, particularly in facing the risks of natural disasters and the impacts of climate change.

According to him, the use of modern technology such as satellite data processing and disaster modeling will help map risks more accurately while also improving community preparedness.

"For example, here to anticipate tsunamis, to anticipate earthquakes. So we will work on that. This is about modernization. This is about capturing data from satellites," she conveyed.

In addition to disaster mitigation, the research collaboration between Indonesia and France also covers issues such as climate change, biodiversity, forestry, health, and marine resource management. Both countries hope that this collaboration can support the formulation of science-based public policies while also enhancing community resilience in facing various environmental risks in the future.