Jakarta, 17 June 2025 — Minister of Creative Economy, Teuku Riefky Harsya, received a courtesy visit from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) University at the Autograph Tower, Thamrin Nine, Jakarta, on Tuesday, 17 June 2025. The meeting discussed the Ministry’s strategic policies and programs to strengthen Indonesia’s creative industries, with a particular focus on the digital games subsector.
Minister Teuku Riefky emphasized that exploring strategic collaboration must be supported by capacity building and the development of a strong creative digital ecosystem between Australia and Indonesia. He noted that the games subsector holds great potential to grow and become a key driver of the creative economy.
“We can work in synergy to identify priority steps and ensure the potential of the digital games subsector in enhancing the competitiveness of Indonesia’s creative industries,” he said.
The Ministry of Creative Economy is prepared to form a collaborative task force to provide guidance and facilitate the absorption of quality human resources for game developers and other stakeholders. With this approach, the games subsector can serve as a primary driver of the creative economy as the new engine of national economic growth.
“We need to adopt a hexahelix approach — involving government, academia, communities, media, businesses, and financial institutions — to explore collaboration in research, training, and creative works development such as games. In this way, the creative economy will become part of diplomacy and grow as the new engine of growth,” Minister Riefky added.
Special Advisor to the Minister on Strategic and Inter-Agency Affairs, Rian Syaf, also underlined the importance of strengthening Indonesia’s creative industries to shape a digital future with a tangible impact on the national economy.
“We consistently conduct studies and strategic management related to the challenges of Indonesia’s creative industries, particularly in the games subsector. The creative industry should not merely follow trends but must also generate measurable contributions to economic growth,” Rian noted.
A similar sentiment was shared by Muhammad Neil El Himam, Deputy for Digital Creativity and Technology, who explained that one of the Ministry’s flagship ASTA EKRAF programs is designed to address challenges in gaming and the digital economy.
“We can focus on the ‘Pasar Ekraf’ initiative, which facilitates and promotes national games. From a single game, intellectual property can be developed and adapted into other creative economy subsectors, such as films and other innovative works,” Neil said.
RMIT University is an international institution specializing in technology, design, and entrepreneurship. According to the QS World University Rankings 2024, RMIT ranks 140th globally. The university is renowned for its arts and design programs, making it highly relevant to the creative economy. RMIT has also partnered with Infinite Learning for the Introduction to Game Design (2D) program at Nongsa Digital Park, supporting Southeast Asian talent through the Merdeka Belajar (Freedom to Learn) scheme.
“We can be a strategic partner in realizing several opportunities in the creative economy, particularly in digital games. We offer training programs that cover technical, creative, and business aspects to improve the quality of education via a Learning Management System (LMS), prepare skilled creative industry professionals, and contribute to the growth of the digital economy. We are ready to collaborate with the Ministry of Creative Economy to empower the next generation of game designers,” said Mish Eastman, Deputy Vice Chancellor and Vice President of RMIT University.
Accompanying Minister Teuku Riefky at the meeting were Secretary of the Ministry, Dessy Ruhati; Deputy for Strategic Creative Economy Development, Cecep Rukendi; Director of Strategic Studies and Management, Agus Syarip Hidayat; Director of Games, Luat S.P. Sihombing; and Director of New Digital Technologies, Dandhy Yudha Feryawan.
Representatives from RMIT University included Director of Partnerships, College of Vocational Education, Prashil Singh; Manager of International Strategy and Business Development, Viviek Arora. From Austrade, Australian Embassy, attendees included Trade and Investment Commissioner Sean Jenner; Senior Education Manager, Nico Alexander; Education Manager, Aswinny Sudhiani; and Deputy Director, Department of Education, Shabrina Fadhilla.
Kiagoos Irvan Faisal
Acting Head of the Communications Bureau
Ministry of Creative Economy / Creative Economy Agency
