Promising business prospects in Indonesia

The 10 SMEs are members of the HKTDC’s T-box (Transformation Sandbox) programme launched in April to help local SMEs improve competitiveness through upgrading and transformation. The programme has seen more than 800 SMEs signed up and setting their own business transformational goals, notwithstanding the pandemic and economic slowdown. 

"Indonesia is an emerging market. Local developers and shopping malls need technology to improve energy efficiency. The population is huge and the market has great potential for development," observed Arthur Lam, Co-CEO & Director of Negawatt Utility Limited [https://hkmb.hktdc.com/en/1X0AKVTM/venture-hong-kong/Save-a-watt-earn-a-watt], one of the participating SMEs.

Specialising in artificial intelligence- (AI) driven energy-saving systems, the Hong Kong start-up began to participate in an Indonesian smart-building pilot programme two years ago, leveraging its ability to provide lower-cost smart energy-saving solutions. "Seeing the preliminary results, I plan to do more marketing," Mr Lam said.

The entrepreneur, who had also joined T-box activities in Thailand and Indonesia earlier, said T-box activities gave the firm an opportunity to contact and communicate with relevant government officials. "We got to meet Indonesian consular representatives, who I think will help us in future if necessary," said Mr Lam.

"T-box helps local start-ups establish G2G (ground to ground) links with potential clients in emerging markets and let them know about our technological solutions," he added.

Mr Lam believes companies doing business in Indonesia need to put effort into localisation: "In the Philippines, many people speak English. In Indonesia, only the top management understands English, so communication is one of the obstacles,” he observed.

E-learning

Nevertheless, English may gradually become more widely spoken in Indonesia. "Southeast Asian countries, including Indonesia, all focus on children learning English,” remarked Jeff Cheng, another meeting attendee. “In Hong Kong, they tend to recruit foreign teachers but Indonesia has a large population and it is difficult to meet the demand."

Mr Cheng believes his company PopSand Technologies Company Limited can help fill the gap by offering the Talkbo native-English teaching robot. Internationally popular English courses are incorporated into the robot through AI, taking 95% off teaching costs.

"Some local partners expressed interest once they had grasped the concept,” he said. “But the most difficult thing in entering the Indonesian market is familiarity with the education department and arranging school trials." He believes that participating in the T-box project will help establish the personal connections needed.

Mr Cheng said he also learnt about Indonesia’s economic development and heard tips for investing locally during the meeting.

"Through the T-box event, we were arranged to meet and communicate with the Indonesian consulate, which is very important for understanding the local market opportunities," said Roger Szeto, Chief Technology Officer of Aurabeat Technology Limited [https://hkmb.hktdc.com/en/1X0AKX81/life-style/Clean-air-in-demand], which sells its disinfection and air filtration devices to Indonesia through distributors.

Jacky Yim, Founder and CEO of S.A.S Lighting Co Ltd, joined the gathering to explore market opportunities for its portable ultraviolet germicidal lamps, which he said many Southeast Asian countries had expressed interest in: “Indonesia has a large population and it is an up-and-coming market, he said. “I hope to master Indonesian laws and tax arrangements, especially tax concessions, which are believed to be a great help for Hong Kong companies when entering the local market," he explained.