Germany鈥檚 Chancellor Angela Merkel and Indonesian President Joko Widodo opened the world鈥檚 largest trade fair for industrial technology, with the latter calling it 鈥渢he most relevant trade fair in today鈥檚 global pandemic situation."
Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, on April 12, 2021, Hannover Messe 2021 was officially opened. It is the first time in the trade fair鈥檚 74 years history that the conference is done completely in a digital format with speakers, exhibitors and visitors participating in a web-based format.
It is a particularly important Hannover Messe for Indonesia, which was chosen as the trade fair鈥檚 partner country for 2020 before the event was postponed to 2021 due to the Corona crisis. Not only is the event an opportunity to showcase Indonesia鈥檚 capability in adapting to the technological requirements of Hannover Messe 2021, it also serves to strengthen Indonesia鈥檚 political and commercial ties with Germany, which is one of Indonesia鈥檚 longest trade partners.
鈥淚t is an honor for Indonesia to be the country partner of Hannover Messe 2021 for the second time after 26 years,鈥� said Mr. Widodo in his opening speech, which was directly broadcasted to Hannover Messe鈥檚 web platform from the Indonesian State Palace in Jakarta.
He continued to praise the trade fair for adopting the theme of technological transformation, 鈥渨hich makes it the most relevant trade fair鈥� amidst the various challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. He also noted the strategic parallel between Hannover Messe and Indonesia鈥檚 own industrial roadmap of 鈥淢aking Indonesia 4.0鈥�, in which the country aims to achieve the level of industrial sophistication that has already been implemented by countries like Germany to its own natural resource-rich economy. By adopting Industry 4.0 practices, Mr. Widodo aims to see Indonesia becoming a top 10 world economy by 2030.
In his speech, Mr. Widodo also took the opportunity to boast Indonesia鈥檚 fast growing digital economy with over 2,000 startups - the fifth largest in the world 鈥� 5 unicorns and one decacorn. It has been projected that Indonesia鈥檚 digital economy would contribute up to US$133 billion to Indonesia鈥檚 national GDP by 2025. He also recognized Indonesia鈥檚 need for investments and technology transfer and that the country has made real and concrete strides in reforming its bureaucracy.
Finally, Mr. Widodo asked Germany to partner with Indonesia in jumpstarting the country鈥檚 digital transformation, further expressing his hope that Indonesia鈥檚 participation in Hannover Messe will be a strong step forward in that direction.
Chancellor Merkel, in her final opening speech as chancellor for the trade fair, welcomed Indonesia as the country partner of Hannover Messe 2021, saying that Indonesia has been one of Germany鈥檚 strongest trade partners and recognizes that Indonesia has so much more to offer than just simply being a tourism destination. She expressed Germany's desire to see stronger relations in the field of vocational education in facing the various challenges posed by wave of digital transformation.
According to data from Hannover Messe, over 1,800 exhibiting companies will be showcasing their solutions for factories and energy systems of the future in this five-day event. Indonesia brought along 156 exhibitors to the event, comprised of state ministries and institutions, state-owned companies, universities and private entities. In the trade fair, approximately 7,000 products will be on display, including 1,700 tradeshow premieres and almost 400 R&D projects. The program 鈥� which includes 750 live exhibitor streams, 750 product videos and 11 exhibitor channels 鈥� provides visitors with concrete solutions for optimizing industrial processes via best-case applications, video tutorials and video chats.