Digital & Financial Technologies key to China-Indonesia Collaboration & Cooperation

Says Ambassador of Indonesia to China Djauhari Oratmangun at the Momentum Works 2019 China-Indonesia Fintech Summit in Shanghai.

SHANGHAI, CHINA, 1 July 2019 – Key stakeholders, investors, and decision-makers from China and Indonesia met to explore the massive fintech opportunity in Indonesia, in the first-ever China-Indonesia Fintech Summit organized by Momentum Works.

The Summit was timely for the G20 Summit in Osaka in the same week, where Presidents Xi Jinping of China and Joko (Jokowi) Widodo of Indonesia discussed collaboration on the digital economy.

HE Djauhari Oratmangun, Ambassador of the Republic of Indonesia to the People’s Republic of China, opened the summit with a keynote speech “The Future of Indonesia’s Financial Technology”.

Mr Oratmangun highlighted the strategic synergy between the expertise of China’s digital economy and the massive opportunities presented in the Indonesian market.

He recommended Chinese investors and successful companies in the financial technology (fintech) space to focus on innovation in financial inclusion, invest in digital infrastructure, participate in the untapped potential of Islamic banking and finance, as well as leverage Indonesia’s role as the gateway to Southeast Asian and global markets.

“This is our time for East and Southeast Asia, and the keywords are Collaboration and Cooperation,” Mr Oratmangun said. “Digital and financial technologies will play a pivotal role.”

This echoed the findings in the MW 2019 Indonesia Fintech report where the digital economy in Indonesia is experiencing a demographic boom – the population is 270 mil, and GDP per capita is above US$4000, but bank penetration is only 50%, and credit card ownership is less than 5%.

In the last two years, many local and foreigner players started investing heavily in the sector, including fintech lending, payment, and insuretech. Gojek has built its GoPay to one of the leading fintech players in Indonesia; while OVO, by partnering with Grab & Tokopedia, forms the largest open payment/fintech ecosystem in the country.

Mr Oratmangun was one of the 10 fintech key influencers and decision-makers who spoke at the conference. All in all, more than 150 investors and senior industry practitioners in China’s FinTech industry attended the event, together with more than 40 fintech companies and investors from Indonesia.

Ajisatria Suleiman, Founding Chairman of Asosiasi Fintech Indonesia (AFTECH), gave the audience a low down of the fintech policies but more importantly, the thinking and rationale behind these policies. “Don’t try to guess what OJK is trying to do. Pay attention to the regular announcements that are issued, and AFTECH is here to support and guide its’ members to navigate the complex environment to succeed.”

Gilang Praditiyo, Head of Venture Fund at Mandiri Capital Indonesia was of the view that Indonesian consumer understanding of fintech would increase, and as such, the next unicorn in Indonesia could potentially be a fintech company.

Iwan Pontjowinoto, Founder & CEO of Halal Lifestyle Indonesia and one of the pioneers of Islamic Finance in the country, shared that the middle-class Muslim market is expected to grow to 103 million by 2020, and this is an opportunity that should not be ignored.

Kameswara Natakusumah, former Chief Commercial Officer of AXA Indonesia, shared his thoughts about challenges in fraud management, and how insuretech would be the next focus for fintech growth in Indonesia.

Marshall Pribadi, Founder & CEO of PrivyID highlighted how Indonesia’s fintech infrastructure is heavily linked to and supported by a number of government initiatives.

Two technology companies from China also shared their experiences on how Chinese companies can work successfully in Indonesia’s fintech ecosystem: Ken Huang of Megvii, a leading AI company specialized in computer vision, and Viper Yuan of NovaBeyond, which optimizes multi-channel marketing.

Ricky Suwarno, an Indonesian based in Shanghai who founded AI company Karoomba,  added the exchanges between the two countries in the digital economy are accelerating, with new areas being explored and deeper collaborations being built.

Ambassador Oratmangun also joined the speakers in the panel to interact with the audience. He gave the investors and businesses two tips about succeeding in Indonesia:

• Understand deeply the differences between China and Indonesia, and adapt China’s experiences accordingly;
• Buy batik – truly understand, immerse into, and appreciate the local culture.

Fostering talent was also a key topic of discussion – with representatives of Indonesian students in China attending the Summit.  Ambassador Oratmangun revealed that there are more than 14,000 young Indonesians are studying in China now, and when these students eventually return to Indonesia, they will bring back not only the Chinese language and know-how, but also the culture, the knowledge, and experience working in an advanced digital economy.

Jianggan Li, CEO and Founder of MW, closed the Summit by giving each of the participants a copy of the MW Indonesia FinTech Report as well as the Indonesia AFTECH Annual Member Survey Report – to help them navigate the massive yet complex opportunity of fintech in Indonesia.

“This is the first of many China-Indonesia cross-border engagements that Momentum Works will be doing in 2019,” Li said. “We hope to continue the momentum and build up the bi-lateral understanding and relationship in the fintech ecosystem. This will be a win-win for all parties involved.”

About Momentum Works

Headquartered in Singapore, Momentum Works builds, scales tech ventures, build up cross border ecosystems. We work with a network of partners to consult on strategy, innovation, financing and various areas of operations. We combine strategic understanding, execution experience, and a diverse, international team to make things happen.