RRI.CO.ID, Shanghai – Indonesia's Coordinating Minister for Economic, Affairs Airlangga Hartarto, held a meeting with two global technology companies from China, namely Huawei and ByteDance. The meeting took place on the sidelines of a working visit to Shanghai, China, for the signing ceremony of the establishment of the World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization (WAICO) on Friday, July 17, 2026.

The meeting discussed opportunities for cooperation in the fields of Artificial Intelligence (AI), digital infrastructure, digital talent development, and technology investment. Huawei is a company with superior capabilities in telecommunications infrastructure, cloud computing, and AI, while ByteDance is a tech giant that develops some of the world’s most popular digital platforms, such as TikTok, CapCut, Lark, Toutiao, and Douyin.

During the meeting with Huawei, Airlangga noted that the company is one of Indonesia’s strategic and potential partners capable of supporting the country’s digital transformation. He also discussed opportunities for cooperation in four areas: investment in AI and cloud infrastructure; strengthening the digital talent ecosystem and cybersecurity; accelerating the digitalization of the government and MSMEs; and implementing green energy solutions in data centers.

“Now that Indonesia has officially become one of the founding members of WAICO, we want to ensure a tangible leap forward in technological cooperation. The company, with its capabilities in AI, telecommunications infrastructure, and cloud computing, is a potential strategic partner to support the national digital transformation,” he said, as quoted by the ministry’s official press release.

Meanwhile, during the meeting with ByteDance, Minister Airlangga expressed appreciation for ByteDance’s strategic investments and long-term commitment to Indonesia, particularly through Tokopedia and TikTok Shop, which have advanced the digital commerce ecosystem. “The Indonesian government appreciates ByteDance’s confidence in continuing to strengthen its investments in Indonesia. ByteDance’s presence not only strengthens the digital economy ecosystem but also opens up broader opportunities for millions of MSME players to grow through digital platforms and cross-border trade,” he stated.

The government continues to encourage expanded collaboration with ByteDance to support the internationalization of Indonesian MSME products so they can reach a broader international market. In addition, he invited ByteDance to explore expanded cooperation in the field of AI, including Large Language Models (LLM), machine learning, and generative AI.

He conveyed, “Indonesia has a large digital market, a growing pool of digital talent, and a strong commitment to building an inclusive AI ecosystem. We invite ByteDance to explore opportunities for establishing an AI research center, developing digital talent, and fostering innovation collaborations that can benefit both countries.”