According to Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi, there are three things that need to be focused on right now in order to create the creative economy. To begin, create a welcoming environment. Second, encourage lifelong learning, and finally, encourage the development of creative hubs.

Indonesia wishes to establish its own creative center. As a follow-up to the World Conference on Creative Economy (WCCE) in Bali in 2018, Indonesia established the Global Center of Excellence and International Cooperation for Creative Economy (G-CINC) in 2019. G-CINC is the outcome of a collaboration between the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy, and the ITB School of Business and Management.

The G-CINC Center aims to bring together creative economy stakeholders from Indonesia and around the world in order to promote research, development, and international collaboration. SBM ITB's expert team has helped GCINC with a number of agendas, including the Expert Panel Series, a workshop for global creative industry participants, and numerous researches on creative schemes and indicators in Indonesia's creative economy.

Sandiaga Uno, Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy, stated in his speech that the creative economy built on culture has the benefit of being an endless asset, allowing it to contribute to efforts to fulfill the SDGs. He also mentioned the crucial role of G-CINC, in which SBM ITB has collaborated with aspects of the Pentahelix, such as academia, creative actors, government, associations, creative communities, and the media, to support various activities connected to strengthening the creative industry. Agung Firman Sampurna, Chairman of BPK RI, emphasized the significance of developing the cooperation between Indonesia's ministries, institutions, regions, and creative industry actors.

According to Sonny Rustiadi, Ph.D., the coordinator of activities and Director of the ITB Career Center, this virtual exhibition was held using ITB's virtual exhibition environment, which was handled by the ITB Career Center as part of the Directorate of Student Affairs. This exhibition is considered important because it serves as a platform for showcasing the potential of Indonesia's creative SMEs to a worldwide audience. From July 6 to 15, 2021, the exhibition can be viewed online at https://bit.ly/LetsConnect2021.

The government, international organizations, creative economy entrepreneurs, the MSME sector, and other communities were represented by 30 booths. Participants will receive the latest information and have the opportunity to connect directly at each booth. Several UN agencies, including the ILO, FAO, UNCTAD, WIPO, UNESCO, and UNWomen, as well as other international organizations including ASEAN and the British Council, were among the exhibitors. A number of countries, including the UAE, Mexico, Costa Rica, Fiji, and Colombia, also participated as exhibitors.

In addition to the exhibition booth, this virtual exhibition includes more than 90 videos with aspirations, programs relating to the creative industry, and profiles of creative industries from around the world. Peru, England, South Africa, South Korea, Singapore, Chile, Philippines, Pakistan, Canada, Egypt, France, Netherlands, Papua New Guinea, China, Bangladesh, Kuwait, Sudan, Germany, Vietnam, Portugal, Brazil, Russia, Benelux, Peru, Canada, Panama, Finland, and the United States are among the countries represented in the videos.

The Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (G-CINC), the West Java Digital Service, and the Jakarta Smart City Program, as well as companies like TaniHub, Tulibot, and Sembilan Matahari, all represent Indonesia.

Agate, an ITB alumni company, was among the participants, as were a number of creative businesses from the School of Business and Management, including ClothLab, Rencana Decoration, Kalea Space, Vaja Golden Vetiver, VISC Production, and Let’s Connect Syndicate 8 Program MBA CCE 63, according to Sonny, who is also a lecturer at SBM ITB in the Entrepreneurship and Technology Management research group and one of the experts at G-CINC.

Reporter: Adi Permana
Translator: Sekar Dianwidi Bisowarno (Bioengineering, 2019)