Indonesia-India Corridor turns cultural wealth into creative value

..AI-based collaboration can help strengthen Indonesian creators’ position in the global creative industry.

Jakarta (ANTARA) - Indonesia’s cultural wealth offers a rich source of inspiration for the global creative industry.

However, turning local stories and characters into commercially valuable products requires more than creative ideas. It also depends on the ability to develop intellectual property (IP), access markets, and ensure that creators benefit economically from their work.

The launch of the Indonesia-India Creative Tech Corridor at the Singhasari Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in East Java on October 24, 2026, offers an opportunity to strengthen this process.

The corridor aims to connect Indonesia’s creative talent and IP with India’s technology and audiovisual production capabilities, including through the use of artificial intelligence (AI).

The collaboration was formalized through a memorandum of understanding signed by Lokanima at the Singhasari SEZ and several Indonesian and Indian industry partners.

The partnership covers creative technology development, IP creation, AI applications, and the distribution of audiovisual content to international markets.

The partners are targeting the premiere of their joint productions at the World Audio Visual and Entertainment Summit (WAVES) 2027 in Mumbai, India.

Indonesia’s Minister of Creative Economy and Head of the Creative Economy Agency, Teuku Riefky Harsya, said the corridor represents a follow-up to commitments made at the 2026 World Conference on Creative Economy (WCCE) to establish concrete partnerships that create meaningful economic opportunities.

The government has also emphasized the importance of involving local talent and IP in technology development. This approach is particularly relevant to a sector that employed 27.4 million people in 2025, accounting for 18.70 percent of Indonesia’s total employed population.

According to Statistics Indonesia (BPS), the creative economy contributed Rp1,757.87 trillion, or 7.38 percent, to the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) that year.

These figures highlight the sector’s economic potential. However, wider market access alone does not guarantee that creators will receive a fair share of the benefits.

The added value generated by creative works also depends on creators’ ability to develop IP, participate in business decisions, and earn revenue from the commercial use of their work.

Value chain

The Indonesia-India collaboration brings together complementary strengths. Indonesia has stories, characters, and cultural identities that can provide a foundation for IP development, while India offers an audiovisual and technology ecosystem that can support production. Combining these capabilities could help bring Indonesian creative works to wider markets.

Deputy Chief of Mission at the Embassy of India in Indonesia Bijay Selvaraj said Indonesia’s strengths in cultural storytelling and India’s audiovisual and technology ecosystem could complement each other. He added that the collaboration would create opportunities for mutual learning and economic value creation.

The partners have also established the Creative Tech Sandbox at the Singhasari SEZ as a testing ground for AI and other emerging technologies for creators and industry players.

Participating partners include Fun Cican, Prodigi AI, state broadcaster LPP TVRI, Cinepolis, Xelta of MatchBest Group, Galleri5 India, and Collective Studios of Collective Artists Network.

The involvement of these partners creates opportunities to connect story and character development with production and distribution capabilities.

However, each stage of the value chain requires different capabilities. Ideas must be developed to meet audience expectations, production must meet quality standards, and distribution must provide access to viewers and commercial partners.

Differences in technological, production, and distribution capabilities can also affect the bargaining power of each party. Indonesian creators therefore need to participate in decision-making and the commercial exploitation of their work, rather than merely supplying stories and characters.

AI can support the creative process, accelerate production, and introduce new ways to develop content.

However, access to technology does not automatically guarantee a fair distribution of economic benefits. Creators also need the skills to develop IP, understand market demands, and negotiate with industry partners.

The target of premiering joint productions at WAVES 2027 offers an opportunity to introduce the collaboration’s output to international audiences. Nevertheless, a premiere alone does not demonstrate whether a production can achieve lasting success or generate sustained revenue.

Audience reach, licensing opportunities, the use of characters in other products, and income from the commercial exploitation of creative works can provide more tangible indicators of economic benefits. These outcomes can help demonstrate whether the collaboration is opening new markets and generating income for Indonesian creators.

IP protection

Developing creative products across borders requires clear ownership and usage rights. Stories, characters, and designs can be adapted for various products and distribution channels.

When their commercial use involves multiple parties, ownership, licensing, permitted uses, and revenue-sharing arrangements must be clearly established to ensure that creators receive proper recognition and compensation.

At WCCE 2026, Indonesia’s Foreign Minister Arrmanatha Christiawan Nasir said much of the economic value generated by digital content continues to flow to a handful of platforms, while creators in developing countries have yet to fully benefit from their work.

He also warned of the risks of using creative works to train AI systems without proper consent or compensation.

These concerns are directly relevant to the implementation of the Indonesia-India corridor.

Clear provisions on IP ownership, consent for the use of creative works, licensing, royalties, and revenue sharing should be incorporated into the partnership to protect creators’ rights and ensure that economic benefits are distributed fairly.

Such arrangements become even more important when a single story or character is developed into multiple products and marketed across different countries.

Expanding market reach must go hand in hand with mechanisms that allow creators to continue benefiting from the commercial use of their work.

Rights protection should also be accompanied by efforts to strengthen creators’ capabilities. Access to technology, production support, industry networks, and knowledge of international markets can help creators play a greater role in IP development and commercialization.

The Indonesia-India corridor offers an opportunity to connect Indonesia’s cultural wealth with international production capabilities and markets.

Its added value will depend on the ability of Indonesian creators to develop local IP, reach wider audiences, and secure economic benefits from the use of their work while ensuring that their rights are protected. In this way, AI-based collaboration can help strengthen Indonesian creators’ position in the global creative industry.

*Martha Herlinawati Simanjuntak is a journalist at the ANTARA News Agency

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the ANTARA News Agency.