Investors Start to Focus on Creative Industry, Association Says

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Members of the 20-20 Investment Association, a non-profit institution in the global finance industry, expressed their interest to invest in Yogyakarta's creative industry. Tom Lembong, one of the members of the institution, said that investors start to set its focus on Yogyakarta because the city’s creative industry and tourism sector are rapidly developing.

Tom said that Yogyakarta is full of creative industry businesses, such as Gameloft, the French videogame giant that has opened its studio in Yogyakarta. "Yogyakarta has many bright programmers," said Tom in Yogyakarta last week.

He added that nowadays, investors are more interested to make their investment in the creative industry compared to natural resources-based companies such as mining and palm. Yogyakarta is also known to be very friendly towards investors. "But they lack in promotion," said Tom.

General Director of Gameloft Indonesia Andrei Lascu, said that the company entered Yogyakarta because they see that the city is full of qualified individuals. The company have now employed over 600 people.

President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo said that he will form a special agency to promote creative industry. "It will be directly under the President's [authority]," he said during a discussion in the Kompas100 CEO Forum in Jakarta last Friday.

Jokowi also mentioned a few creative industry sub-sectors that are considered to have great potential in Indonesia, such as animation, games, films, fashion, culture, dance, and music.

TRI ARTINING PUTRI | SHINTA MAHARANI (YOGYAKARTA)