The Indonesian government has taken another strategic step in strengthening the national maritime sector through international collaboration. At the INNOPROM 2026 event in Yekaterinburg, Russia, the Indonesian delegation held a forum titled Building an Indonesia–Russia Shipbuilding Partnership to explore potential shipyard industry partnerships between the two countries.
Minister of Industry Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita emphasized that this collaboration is designed as a catalyst to enhance domestic shipbuilding industry capacity. The main focus of this partnership includes technology transfer, investment, and human resource competency development, which are expected to bolster Indonesia's position as a maritime manufacturing hub in the ASEAN region.
This forum represents a tangible manifestation of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) agreed upon in December 2025. Discussions involving industry players from both nations covered various technical aspects, ranging from the construction of merchant ships and ferries to the development of ship components and advanced propulsion systems, which are Russia's strengths in the global market.
As an archipelagic nation with more than 17,000 islands, Indonesia relies heavily on the strength of its naval fleet for logistics distribution and economic equity. This cooperation is considered crucial as it combines Russia's excellence in maritime engineering with Indonesia's growing domestic market potential, supported by the I-EAEU FTA trade framework.
The Ministry of Industry of the Republic of Indonesia hopes that this synergy will not stop at the discussion level, but will soon transform into concrete joint production projects. This step is projected to accelerate domestic maritime technology transformation while opening broader access for Indonesian shipbuilding products to penetrate the international market.
