The Industry Ministry will cooperate with a United States company to build an integrated circuit (IC) design center for the semiconductor industry.
The move is a part of import substitution efforts, specifically for components of diodes, transistors, and similar semiconductor equipment, as well as IC products.
“We are trying to reduce dependence on semiconductors, whose supply chains are getting more difficult, and demand is getting higher and higher. So, we must prepare the supply," Industry Minister Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita said in a statement received here on Tuesday.
To achieve those ends, the ministry will collaborate with Sehat Sutardja, an innovator who has developed semiconductor technology.
Cooperation in this regard has been forged through the signing of an agreement by the secretary general of the Industry Ministry, Dody Widodo, and Sutardja, who is also the co-founder of Marvell Technology, a semiconductor company based in the United States.
Currently, Sutardja is working with many companies to create the latest technology, one of which is a Singapore-based company called Zerro Power, which will engage in semiconductor development cooperation with the ministry.
"He represents one of his companies, which is Zerro Power, that is currently investing in semiconductor-based household appliances," the minister informed.
He said he expects the collaboration to encourage the development and build the capacity of the national semiconductor industry so that Indonesia can have an independent and structured semiconductor industry in the future.
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The construction of an IC design center in Indonesia will be one form of the cooperation.
The minister said he wants the cooperation to be structured in as much detail as possible so that it becomes an important basis for the development of the semiconductor industry in Indonesia.
“Mr. Sutardja is also a brilliant diaspora who has many patents. We need to make good use of the brilliance of his thought," he remarked.
Meanwhile, Sutardja said that he responded positively to the cooperation as a form of his contribution to developing technology in Indonesia and participating in industrial growth in the future.
He expressed his interest in bringing the technologies he has created back to Indonesia.
"Hopefully, in the future, these technologies can be produced in collaboration with the government and Indonesian companies," he said.
He added that the collaboration between his administration and the ministry holds a message, especially for Indonesian people who are currently working in other countries, including the United States.
"We need to try our best and try things that are a challenge, particularly for those from the younger generation," he said.
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