Representatives of business organisations from India and Indonesia have agreed to cooperate to develop and expand ICT application in the Indonesian education and health sectors.

Didie Soewondo, Deputy Chairman of Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KADIN), said, “India has a comparative advantage in education, including human resources. India’s information and communications technology in education is sophisticated, and Indonesia could gain much from the cooperation.”

President of Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), Naina Lal Kidwai, added that India would also be able to contribute by transferring ICT knowledge in the healthcare sector.

Kidwai remarked that cooperation under the present conditions would prove beneficial to both countries. “Indonesia’s Internet penetration level is higher than India’s. Meanwhile, some 12 million people work in the ICT sector in India,” she said.

However, she added that for cooperation in these sectors to advance smoothly, the countries would have to further cooperation on other fronts, such as making it easier for Indian nationals to obtain Indonesian work visas.