Antara News·Indonesia·Tuesday, November 3, 2026 at 06:35 AM UTC

Indonesia's Nongsa Digital Park, Swiss firm sign sovereign AI deal

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Yashinta, Kenzu

Through strategic cooperation, Indonesia and Switzerland are using the momentum of 75 years of diplomatic relations..

Jakarta (ANTARA) - Indonesia's Nongsa Digital Park in Batam signed a cooperation agreement with Swiss sovereign cloud and artificial intelligence (AI) service provider PHOENIQS AG to develop sovereign AI capabilities in Indonesia, targeting the Southeast Asian market.

The MoU was signed on October 29 in Basel-Landschaft, where PHOENIQS AG’s AI supercomputer is located, according to a written statement from the Indonesian Embassy in Bern on Tuesday.

The agreement was signed by PHOENIQS AG Executive Chairman Thomas Taroni and Nongsa Digital Park Chief Business Officer Marco Bardelli, in the presence of Thomi Jourdan, President of the Government of the Canton of Basel-Landschaft, and Ngurah Swajaya, Indonesian Ambassador to Switzerland.

“As Southeast Asia’s largest economy, with a population of 280 million, a young demographic, and high digital connectivity, Indonesia is not just a potential market but a perfect laboratory for large-scale, AI-based digital technology innovation,” Swajaya said, welcoming the MoU signing.

Swajaya also highlighted Switzerland’s strengths as a country that adopts the best precision technology innovations and one that has successfully developed supercomputing independently.

“Through strategic cooperation, Indonesia and Switzerland are using the momentum of 75 years of diplomatic relations to once again develop a complementary and mutually beneficial partnership,” he stated.

The cooperation enables Indonesia to build capacity in developing sovereign AI-based data centers to serve rising needs of businesses and industry, especially banking, telecommunications, and smart manufacturing.

The technology will give Indonesia or data owners full control (sovereignty), which differs from data residency, and is based on supercomputers and quantum technology. This independence is crucial in an era of technology competition amid global geopolitical rivalry.

As an independent operating system developer, this capability lets data owners store and process AI-based data with more sovereignty than data residency alone.

Under the partnership, Nongsa Digital Park, a special economic zone for the digital economy, provides international and regional connectivity and a supercomputer- and AI-based data center environment within the area.

Meanwhile, PHOENIQS AG brings its sovereign cloud and AI technology, previously applied by the company with telecommunications and infrastructure partners in Switzerland and the Middle East.

The cooperation also makes Nongsa one of the supercomputer-based sovereign AI platforms in Indonesia. Implementation will begin with pilot projects involving several banks, telecommunications firms, and manufacturers in Batam and Singapore.

Swajaya said the MoU complements the mineral and metal downstreaming cooperation that Indonesia and Switzerland signed in June 2026, as well as smart factory development involving both countries’ private sectors.

“In an era of geopolitical contestation, developing digital technology sovereignty and independence has become a priority need for many countries to break free from dependence,” he said.

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