Before allocating more state funding to research, the President said research institutions should be revamped to make sure their output could be used by industries.
resident Joko “Jokowi” Widodo said on Monday that the government is still focusing on infrastructure and human capital development before advancing research and development.
Before allocating more state funding to research, the President said research institutions should be revamped to make sure their output could be used by industries.
“If we take a measure from our GDP [gross domestic product], the percentage for research and development is still very small even though the figure is about Rp 26 trillion [US$1.8 billion] per year.
“What I’m asking is, where are the results? It should have an end result that is useful for people, small industries and the country,” he said at Merdeka Palace.
Jokowi said the establishment of the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) should be the center for Indonesia’s innovation and he would allocate funds to the agency.
According to the 2019 Global Innovation Index (GII), Indonesia still lags behind neighboring countries in terms of innovation. Indonesia was in 85th position among 129 countries or 14th among 15 Southeast Asian and Oceania countries. Malaysia was at 35th and Singapore topped the regional list in eighth place globally.
Meanwhile, according to the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) 2019 Global Competitiveness Index, Indonesia ranks 50th, down five places from last year. The country’s Research and development capability is ranked 47th, and its R&D expenditures ranked 116th out of 141 countries.
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