Bill Gates to visit Indonesia

The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Thu, 03/06/2008 11:58 AM  |  National

Microsoft Corp. founder Bill Gates is slated to visit Indonesia to attend the Government Leader Forum in Jakarta on May 8 and 9.

"We have received the reply confirming the visit of Bill Gates to Indonesia," minister of communication and information Muhammad Nuh told reporters Wednesday.

He said President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono himself sent an invitation letter to Gates, one of the world's richest men, to attend the forum.

Nuh said the government would review feasible cooperation with Microsoft.

"We are drafting new kinds of cooperation agreements that could be made between Microsoft and the Indonesian government," he said.

Indonesia has long been fighting software piracy problems.

The International Data Corporation (IDC), a global provider of market intelligence services in the information technology market, reported that Indonesia had reduced its software piracy rate by 2 percent from 87 percent in 2003 to 85 percent in 2006.

Indonesia ranked third-worst offender of software piracy in the Asia-Pacific region after Vietnam at 88 percent and Pakistan at 86 percent, and slightly above China with 82 percent.

The Business Software Alliance (BSA) said the software industry suffered a total loss of about US$350 million in 2006 due to piracy.

The government has repeatedly urged consumers to shift to open source software to reduce the use of pirated software.

The government has also promoted the Indonesia Go Open Source (IGOS) campaign since 2005 to support local software producers.

President director of Microsoft Indonesia Tony Chen said the annual Government Leaders Forum would not discuss products on information technology.

"It will discuss the roles of technology in development including education, health and the economic sector," he said as quoted by Antara.

He hailed the government's program for the development of information technology in the country.

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