Taiwan Sees Smart Agriculture Cooperation Opportunity with Indonesia

RRI.CO.ID, Jakarta - Taiwan is seeking to expand cooperation with Indonesia in smart agriculture, including through the development of pilot areas that could help Indonesia strengthen food security, create jobs and increase processed food exports.

Taiwan Foreign Affairs Minister Lin Chia-Lung said Taiwan has expertise in smart agriculture that could be applied to support Indonesia's food security.

"I believe this can help Indonesia strengthen food security, especially for processed food exports," he said on Thursday, August 20, 2026, as quoted by Antara.

Lin made the remarks during a meeting with media delegates participating in Taiwan's New Southbound Policy (NSP) program at the Taiwan Ministry of Foreign Affairs office in Taipei on Thursday, August 20.

He said Taiwan hopes Indonesia can provide a pilot area where Taiwan could offer integrated solutions for smart agriculture development. "If Indonesia can provide a pilot area for Taiwan to provide integrated solutions, we would greatly appreciate it," he added.

Lin said the initiative could help Indonesia create more jobs and boost exports. "I believe in this way, we can help Indonesia increase employment, promote exports and build this industry," he believed.

In Indonesia, smart agriculture development has also been pursued through cooperation with international partners. One example is the cooperation between the Indonesian National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) and the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) of South Korea.

BRIN Head of the Research Center for Industrial Systems and Sustainable Manufacturing, Nugroho Adi Sasongko, said the collaboration is the second phase of a series of cooperation that had previously been carried out.

"We focus on the characteristics of nutrient absorption by Indonesia's leading plants at each stage of growth. Through KIST's smart agriculture technology, we can precisely measure the composition of nutrient solutions needed under tropical climate conditions," Nugroho once said in a statement in Jakarta earlier this year.

He said the technology is important to ensure that Indonesia's natural products meet global industry standards.

By adopting smart agriculture technology developed by KIST, Indonesia is expected to optimize the potential of local biological products and turn them into high-value natural products, he said.

Taiwan is also one of the target markets for Indonesian food products. Indonesian Ministry of Trade recorded potential transactions worth USD 5 million through the Indonesia Pavilion at the 2026 Food Taipei Mega Show in Taiwan.

Director General of National Export Development at the Ministry of Trade Fajarini Puntodewi said the figure reflected growing confidence in the quality of Indonesian food products in the Taiwanese market.

"The potential transaction of USD 5 million shows that Indonesian food products have quality, added value and competitiveness that are increasingly recognized in the Taiwanese market," Puntodewi said recently. ***