Indonesia Proposes Nine Research Partnerships to ASEAN Countries

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Indonesia continues to strengthen research and innovation technology by offering nine research collaboration platforms to ASEAN countries. This was conveyed by the Head of the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), Laksana Tri Handoko, after meeting with ministers in the field of science, technology, and innovation from Southeast Asia during the 87th ASEAN Committee on Science, Technology, and Innovation (COSTI) event held in Jakarta on June 16-20, 2025.

"We don't just want to hold events. So we have to bring something that has a long-term impact and can enhance Indonesia's positioning globally, including providing opportunities for our researchers to collaborate more widely," said Handoko at the BRIN B.J. Habibie Building, Jakarta, on Friday, June 20, 2025.

Handoko explained that BRIN offers several research collaboration platforms that can serve as the basis for countries in the ASEAN region. "There are nine platforms currently in operation to be used as collaboration platforms for friendly countries in the ASEAN region," he said.

In addition to cooperation with ASEAN countries, collaboration is also being explored with Japan, Australia, China, the European Union, and the United States to expand cooperation and relationships. "Then there is co-funding so that the budget we have, for example, one rupiah, can become 2-3 rupiahs. And on the other hand, it can improve Indonesia's position," said Handoko.

These nine collaboration platforms cover various fields, from historical archaeological excavations to space and nuclear technology. "So the first of the nine is excavations of historical archaeology. It's in Bumi Ayu. Then land biodiversity expeditions, and marine expeditions," he said.

Collaboration is also carried out in space, especially related to remote sensing technology for monitoring and observing areas. In addition, BRIN offers opportunities for research collaborations to observe the southern sky in Timau. "The southern sky belongs to everyone. It's very interesting for friendly countries as well," he said.

In nuclear technology, the collaboration focuses on accelerator technology and waste processing, including revitalizing various nuclear facilities. "Then there's 'Banana for Food.' It's a collaboration platform for development, because 80 percent of the genetic banana resources are in Indonesia. So this is actually working with America. So in America, their main food is banana flour, not bananas," said Handoko.

Furthermore, BRIN also offers collaboration in structural biology and genomics. "Then extracting molecular data from all flora, fauna, humans, and so on, and utilizing it for medical research, and so on," he said.

Furthermore, Handoko also explained that BRIN has been active in researching defense and security technologies, including rocket development and drones. However, such collaboration does not fall under explicit ASEAN inter-country cooperation. He emphasized that the ASEAN region has never formed a defense alliance like NATO.

Handoko mentioned that defense technology development, such as drones in Indonesia, is more applied for civilian purposes, such as mapping, photography, surface observation, and complementing data from satellites. He said that developing drones for such purposes is much more difficult than creating combat drones for war.

"For the ASEAN region, in principle, it's non-aligned and does not form defense and security alliances, at least up to now. So we certainly cannot and should not enter that area," he said.

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